Yukikaze: Homecoming
by Q42
Summary: Five years since the Passageway was destroyed, mankind has largely forgotten the Fairy War, and the threat it once faced from the JAM. That is, until a heavily-damaged FAF fighter crash-lands in just off the coast of Antarctica. Its name is Yukikaze...
1. Rough Landing

Yukikaze: Homecoming

Five years since the Passageway was destroyed, mankind has largely forgotten the Fairy War, and the threat it once faced from the JAM. That is, until a single heavily-damaged FAF fighter crash-lands in the Southern Ocean, just off the coast of Antarctica. Its name is _Yukikaze_….

-

In Antarctica, nightfall lasts for months.

Far enough south of the Earth's equator that the planet's rotation has little impact on its exposure to sunlight, the southernmost continent's days depend solely on the slow, wobbling tilt of the Earth's rotational axis. Note the occasional dip of the Sun below the Antarctic horizon, as the distance the pale star falls becomes increasingly deeper. Finally, after a long twilight, the dying daystar disappears completely, and an entire continent is plunged into darkness. It will be several long weeks until "morning" arrives.

During this long night, most of the humans who make their summer home here – a few hardy teams of researchers, biologists, and climatologists – leave for warmer climes, leaving only a thousand or so to watch their instruments. They work the longest night shift on Earth.

Once, for a period of years, there were more. Consisting mainly of military personnel, a literal army of human beings stampeded onto the ice when a ten-mile-high pillar of steam and spatial disruption appeared in the sky. The phenomenon called the Passageway was just that: a door between two worlds, linking Earth with an alien planet which would come to be known as Fairy – and allowing its creators, the mysterious JAM, to begin their conquest of Earth. Icy terrain was leveled to build runways for air bases, roads and supply routes were laid down, docks and warehouses built to receive and house war materiel. Only after many hard-fought battles were the forces of the United Nations able to beat the invaders back through the gateway.

With the JAM safely tucked away in their corner, the humans' interest waned. The razor edge of panic was replaced by the dull ache of boredom. Troops pulled out, bases were closed, and even those who remained to watch the Passageway grew lax and careless. Finally, after the humans' attempt to confront the enemy on their own world failed, the Fairy Air Force finally returned to Earth, hundreds of men and women dead or missing. To end the JAM threat once and for all, one lone pilot flew into the maelstrom, breached the JAM air defenses around the portal, and set off several nuclear explosives to disrupt and collapse the hyperspace pathway. The last anyone saw of Lieutenant Rei Fukai and his sentient fighter jet, the _Yukikaze_, was a brilliant flash of white light just before the Passageway closed.

Once the monsters were finally shut out from Earth, humans were only too happy to ignore the whole affair. The last of the military bases was closed down, leaving only the empty shells of prefabricated barracks and aircraft hangars, most of which were soon torn apart by fierce Antarctic winds and ice storms. Antarctica was left to itself again, and the human race largely forgot about the war that had been fought there, or the lives that had been sacrificed for its survival.

Until now….

-

Joshua Lane was bored stiff. Uttering a sigh, he tossed the rubber ball up, heard the _thunk_ as it connected with a ceiling panel, then caught it deftly with his left hand. Throw, _thunk_, catch. Throw, _thunk_, catch. The physicist spared a quick glance over at his computer screen, which showed a map of the area around McMurdo base, overlaid with a multicolored representation of local electromagnetic field activity. As usual, the screen was mostly a dull red, with an occasional faint smudge of orange – nothing remarkable.

"You keep doing that, and you're going to break something," a female voice called out. Josh caught the ball again, turning his chair around to face Kimiko Nakamura, one of the few other people dedicated or crazy enough to man their instruments here during the Antarctic winter. Josh grinned at the pretty Japanese climatologist; they'd been going steady for nearly a year now, and one of the reasons they'd both taken the 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. shift was so that they could work together without too many of the other "inmates" watching over their shoulders.

"Ah, don't sweat it," the American replied, "I've gotten so much practice at this, I doubt I'll ever miss a catch." So saying, he threw the ball up once again – just as an electronic alarm tone sounded from the monitor. Caught unprepared by the sudden distraction, Josh failed to catch the ball, which hit his desk and went caroming around, knocking over his coffee cup and a can of writing utensils before eventually coming to rest beneath one of the tables.

Kim put her hands on her hips, flashing her boyfriend a wry smile. "See? I warned you!"

"Yes, mothe— Holy cow!" Josh exclaimed, suddenly alert, staring awestruck at his screen. Where the EM spectra over the Ross ice shelf had been calm and unremarkable only seconds earlier, an expanding circle of blue-white had appeared just off the coastline, identifying an extremely powerful burst of radiation. "What the hell?"

"What is it?" Kim asked, coming over to stand beside Josh. Then her mouth fell open as she realized what the monitor was showing. "Is … is that …?"

Josh felt his heart jump up into his throat. If part of the ice shelf hadn't broken and melted away two years earlier, this anomaly would have manifested over the very spot where, two decades previously, the Passageway had first appeared.

"Josh," Kim asked, wide-eyed, her voice a frightened whisper, "you don't think that they might have opened _another_…?"

By now, Josh was fully awake. Grabbing his portable radio, he hit the transmit button. "Mac! Mac, are you awake? Talk to me!"

A moment later, a voice came over the line, obviously groggy from having just been woken up. "Uh, Lane? What's up?"

"Mac, we're picking up some crazy EM activity over here! Readings are off-scale high! It's centered directly over … wait a minute …." Josh trailed off as he watched the display. The anomaly had now resolved itself into an expanding ring of high-energy electromagnetic radiation, but the colors were fading from blue to green, with the inner edge a slowly dimming yellow. Instead of a bright, fixed column of intense energy, it looked more like ripples in a pond, weakening as the phenomenon expanded across the sky.

"Lane? Lane, come back. What's going on?"

After looking at the screen to make sure the "ripples" were really dying out, he called Mac back. "Uh, I'm not sure. We saw some kind of high-energy burst over the shelf, but it's fading out now."

"Out over the shelf? Let me check on tha—huh!"

"What is it?"

"I'm getting an emergency beacon from there. No voice, just an automated distress signal, and I think there's an IFF code imbedded somewhere … B-503. Maybe your EM spike was just the recovery beacon?"

"No way, Mac, that burst was way too powerful. For a second, it looked almost like the EMP from a nuclear blast."

"Yeah, well, the base electronics still read green across the board, so whatever it was, it wasn't an EMP, or at least not any kind I've heard about."

Josh nodded. "Okay. Well, at least our heating systems weren't fried or anything."

"Yeah! This time of the year, that'd be a real bitch! Of course, now we gotta rescue whoever it is that crashed out there before they sink or freeze to death."

"No military ships in the area?"

"Not less than a day's trip from here. Looks like it's up to us. Chalmers is gonna be pissed as hell."

"Yeah, yeah. Just tell the old guy to get the research boat fired up, and make sure the winch is working. If that plane is still floating, the navy guys are probably going to want it brought back."

"Yeah, right, if it hasn't broken up. I'll wake the poor guy, then put something warm on. You guys want to come too?"

Josh looked at his screen, now showing nothing more than the usual background energy, then at Kim, who just shrugged. "Hell, why not? Not like we have anything better to do here, anyway. Besides, maybe I can ask the pilot what that energy pulse was."

There was a laugh from the other end. "Lane, they never mentioned it to us, it goes boom, and obviously something went wrong. Do you honestly think he'd _tell_ you?"

Josh sighed, realizing that Mac was probably right. "Probably not," he admitted. "Still, at least I get to get away from my desk for an hour or two, right?"

-

Thirty minutes later, the icebreaker was nearing the source of the emergency beacon. Bill Chalmers – "Barnacle Bill", as the other scientists had affectionately nicknamed him – had the searchlights switched on, sweeping the water for any sign of wreckage or survival gear.

After only three minutes, they found it.

The aircraft had deployed bright orange flotation bags from its forward fuselage, under its wings, and on either side of the engine exhaust nozzles. It was obviously a fighter aircraft; the streamlined body and its forward-swept wings made it obvious, as well as the plethora of maneuvering flaps and joints it used to alter its aerodynamic profile. The outer sheathing was a deep blue-gray, with white insignia denoting its individual and squadron designation. As the science vessel approached, the crew noticed that the fighter's long, two-seat cockpit was still closed, though only one chair was occupied. Countless scratches and dents had marred its paint, as though it had flown through a hail of metal shrapnel, yet somehow, the airframe seemed completely intact

Josh stepped cautiously out onto the wing, a steel cable in one hand, looking for an attachment point. When he found one, he clipped the cable into the ring and signaled the others. Once they were ready, Bill could start towing the aircraft back to McMurdo.

"Josh, can you see if the pilot is all right?" Kim called out, climbing over the side of the boat and carefully stepping onto the left wing. Josh had to smile under his waterproof cold-weather gear; typical Kim, always thinking of others. No wonder he liked her so much. The two slowly made their way from the middle of the fuselage up to the cockpit. Josh shone his flashlight in through the canopy. The pilot sat slumped slightly to his left, not moving.

"Uh, Kim, it looks like he's unconscious or something. I'm shining the light, but he's not moving."

Bill's voice crackled over their earpieces. "Better open the cockpit, then. There should be an emergency release somewhere on the port side. It'll be marked with a yellow triangle. Do you see it?"

"Ah, yeah."

"There should be a small, recessed slot you can stick your fingers into. Pull up on it, and you'll see a red handle. Just pull that, and the canopy will hinge open automatically."

Following the ex-naval officer's instructions, Josh activated the emergency release, and the cockpit opened with a quiet hiss of pneumatic pressure. Leaning down, Josh unclipped the breathing apparatus and beheld the pale, gaunt-looking face of the unlucky young pilot – or very lucky, depending on how you looked at the situation. There was no blood, at least, though his eyes were shut. One hand was still lightly closed around the stick, as though, even unconscious, he refused to relinquish control of his plane. "Why didn't he eject?" Josh asked over the com line.

"Probably because he knew his best chance was to land the plane intact, rather than ditch in these waters. Pilot g-suits are supposed to be waterproof, but the seals aren't perfect, and in this cold water, he'd have been dead of hypothermia before anybody could reach him."

"He must be one hell of a pilot," Mac commented. "Landing without a runway is tricky to begin with, especially if it's malfunctioning. Looks like she came down all in one piece, though."

Josh looked down at the unconscious fighter pilot. "Well, what do we do with him, then? Should I just close him up again until we reach the base?"

"Better carry him onto the boat. There's still a chance that the plane may sink while we try to tow it, plus it's warmer in here. If anything happens, at least we'll still save the pilot. Kim, give him a hand."

Planting their feet securely, the two researchers, looking like orange-suited Eskimos in their cold-weather gear, lifted the pilot gently, holding him stretched between them. A faint groan escaped the young man's lips, and one arm tensed momentarily. Slowly, making sure not to rock the floating fighter, they made their way over to the ship, where Bill and Mac grabbed the pilot's shoulders, hoisting him aboard. After a few moments, they returned and helped Kim back on board. "Hey, Lane, why don't you head back and close the cockpit back up again? If the plane does start to sink, one extra pocket of air inside wouldn't hurt."

"Right. Just a sec." Josh slowly made his way back to the cockpit, leaning down to grasp the handle he'd pulled earlier. Before closing it back up, though, something caught his eye. In the center of the plane's instrument panel, a message was flashing.

REQUEST STATUS: Lt. FUKAI

"Huh? Hey, Mac, I think somebody's on the line with this guy. They're asking for a status report."

"Tell 'em we've found him and the plane, and they can come pick 'em up at McMurdo."

Josh leaned in and pulled his breath mask down. "Uh, this is Josh Lane from McMurdo base. The pilot's knocked out, but he looks okay. We're towing the plane back, too, so you can come and get them whenever you, uh, want to, I guess."

An electronic tone sounded, and a new message appeared. WHERE IS MCMURDO?

Josh read the message, puzzled. "Er, McMurdo base. You know, here? In Antarctica, where the plane was flying?"

ERROR. LAST KNOWN POSITION: PASSAGEWAY (FAIRY ENDPOINT). THIS IS NOT ANTARCTICA.

Suddenly, Josh realized several things. First, he wasn't talking to some text-messaging CO on a distant carrier or airbase: he was talking to the _plane_. Second, the plane was apparently smart enough to understand what he said, and was answering back. Third, it didn't know where it was, and if he understood that last message correctly, it seemed to think that it had just recently been on another planet.

And fourth, this whole thing was getting weirder by the second.

"Hey, look," he began, "I really don't know what's going on. The … this … you crash landed on Earth, in the Southern ocean. We're just off the Antarctic coast, so we're towing you ashore until somebody comes to pick you up."

Josh noticed a small camera lens mounted above the screen, and suddenly had the unsettling certainty that it was looking right at him, trying to read his expression, as though to catch him in a lie.

VOICE STRESS ANALYSIS COMPLETED. YOU ARE TELLING THE TRUTH.

"Um, yeah."

The screen was blank for a long moment. At last, another chime sounded.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE JOSH LANE.

Somehow, Josh got the impression that the plane was … relieved? "Err, you're welcome."

As he reached for the handle again, one last message flashed on the screen:

PLEASE TAKE CARE OF Lt. FUKAI.

Something about that brief, simple message – the way it said "please", maybe – struck Josh. It was as though the stricken aircraft was actually showing concern for its pilot. He felt as though it was pleading, its tiny camera eye staring straight at his own.

"Don't worry," he said. "Your pilot – Fukai, right? – he'll be okay. He didn't look too bad. Just a little shaken up."

THANK YOU.

The canopy closed. Josh's hand hadn't even touched the handle.

-

"Are you all right, Josh? You look really pale."

The young physicist felt a gentle hand on his shoulder, turning back from the rail. Kim's deep brown eyes held an expression of worry.

"I'm okay, just a little freaked out. I mean, that plane …" He looked back behind the ship, where the fighter plane was trailing along behind them, still floating serenely on its air pouches. "That plane _talked_ to me. Not with, like, a voice or anything, but still … I guess I'm just not used to talking to machines, or trying to calm one down."

"You really think it was worried?"

Josh sighed. "Honestly? I don't know. I just … felt something. Like it was confused, and it was worried about this Fukai guy."

Kim offered him a smile. "Well, if it makes you or it feel better, Mac says he'll be fine. He might have a concussion and some nasty bruises, but he was really lucky, all things considered.

"You know, I once read a quote by Albert Einstein. He said that one day, our technology would outpace our humanity, or something like that." She turned to look at the plane. "Maybe our technology is far enough along that it's developed some humanity of its own to compensate."

"Yeah, or maybe it's got a crush on its pilot," Josh replied, trying to crack a joke.

Kim chuckled politely. After a moment's pause, she said, "You know, they did give it a nice name."

"Huh?"

"On the nose, see? That's kanji."

"You mean you can read that?"

Kim gave him a look. "I _am_ Japanese, you know. It's my own language."

"Well, what does it say?"

Kim looked thoughtfully at the remarkable fighter they were towing behind them. The boat's rear navigation lights reflected off its beautiful, aggressive shape. Her eyes followed the sweeping curves and lines of the calligraphic writing that had been carefully, lovingly painted onto its nose.

"_Yukikaze_," she said, almost reverently.

"Its name is Yukikaze."

-

Author's Note: I started this fic after ordering the complete series from Borders. I watched the whole thing, and I like to think I'm familiar with modern fighter planes, but if there are any technical details I messed up on, please let me know. Comments and reviews are always helpful. Thanks for reading!


	2. Old Wounds

Chapter Two: Old Wounds

-

"Hey, Mom! I brought you some water."

A large white sport bottle suddenly dropped down from above the rim of Lynn's wide-brimmed hat. Attached to the bottle was a well-tanned forearm, and bright pink nails gleamed in the bright summer sun as her daughter, Sarah, dangled the proffered gift in front of her mother's face.

Lynn smiled. With an unexpected groan (_I'm definitely not on the high school track team anymore_, she thought), she stood and turned to face the girl. Even now, it was still a shock to realize that her daughter was thirteen years old already. It didn't help that Mark had managed to retain primary custody, so every time she went to pick her daughter up, Lynn always felt the unwelcome sensation that this was a total stranger walking out to her car. _Surely, this can't be Sarah; she's too old!_

Even so, the whole affair had become routine, and Lynn smiled gratefully as she accepted the cool plastic bottle; she could even hear the soft clink of ice cubes inside. "Thanks, honey."

"No problem," Sarah replied. As usual, her long brown hair – the same shade as her mother's – was tied back in a ponytail. Lynn had to admit, Sarah did bear a strong resemblance to the way she herself had looked in her early teens: fair skin, dark hair, blue eyes, a somewhat lanky build. The way kids dressed these days, Lynn knew that her daughter was actually quite conservative with regards to her wardrobe; at the moment, she wore a pink tube-top over patch-kneed blue jeans and white low-top sneakers. A pair of designer sunglasses sat perched atop her head.

Lynn herself was dressed in a similar way, with her blue sleeveless top and faded work jeans, though at the moment, she also sported her work boots, rawhide gloves, darker sunglasses and a wide-brimmed straw hat, sun block smeared liberally over her back and arms. She had grown accustomed to working like this ever since she had remarried and moved out here to be with her husband. He'd always wanted to be a farmer, though truth be told, the small wheat fields they tended were really just a hobby, nowhere near big enough to compete with the bigger farms in the area. It was more a way of keeping busy, of passing the time between social engagements and vacation trips, while generating a little supplemental income to add to Lynn's royalty checks and her husband's pension.

"Sarah, honey, why don't you go see if Jack would like some, too?"

"Oh, I already did. He's still got his bottle over there."

Lynn's smile grew. When she and Jack had initially discussed the subject of marriage, one of her biggest fears had been that of alienating Sarah. It had been an enormous relief when she'd found Jack and her daughter snoring on the couch, still sitting up, surrounded by soda cans as the end credits of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" scrolled up the television screen. It seemed that Sarah and her stepfather had hit it off right from the beginning, and when she came to visit for the summer, Lynn felt that their family was complete. Not that it wouldn't keep on growing, of course….

Sarah hadn't even batted an eye when Lynn had changed her name to Bukhar, though her daughter had jokingly refused to change her own last name to anything other than Jackson. "And if my husband doesn't like it, then tough!"

_Ah, teenagers._

As Lynn finished up checking the irrigation system, she stood and walked over to the opposite end of the field. A broad-shouldered figure hunched down, Sarah perched on his right shoulder. As Lynn approached, she could make out his faded blue baseball cap, facing backward so that the purple boomerang emblem was facing toward her, a winged female figure lying casually upon it, as though riding the angular delta-shape.

"So, you see that? That's actually a really small chemical sensor. When it reads green like this, that means that the plants are getting enough nutrients, so you're doing okay. Too far into this orange area here, and you'd need to throw down some fertilizer, or else put something in the sprinkler system to give them whatever it is they need."

"But how does it tell all that?"

"Well, now that's the really fun part. See, back when people first started sending robots to Mars, they had to figure out how to pack these big, hi-tech analysis machines into a lightweight package, or else…."

"You know, when I was your age, this kind of stuff bored me to tears," Lynn interjected, laying a hand gently on her husband's shoulder. Jack Bukhar turned to look at her, still bright-eyed and grinning from explaining the inner workings of a soil analyzer to his stepdaughter. Even when they'd first met, on an aircraft carrier in Antarctica, Jack had always had a roguish aspect about him, with his scruffy beard and hair that just had to have been more than regulation length. Once free from the constraints imposed by military discipline, under the bright sun and fresh air of the American midwest, it was as though the real Jack had finally set down roots and unfurled his branches, letting his wild blond hair grow out and down between his shoulders. By the time he and Lynn had finally reconnected after his return from Fairy, Jack had already taken to wearing his button-down shirts unbuttoned over a t-shirt, jeans and comfy walking shoes.

"I don't mind," Sarah replied with a shrug. "It's actually kind of neat to know how all this stuff works. I guess I never really thought farming was, like, a hi-tech industry."

"Oh, you want hi-tech, huh? You should see some of the giant gizmos those guys over there use," Jack said, jerking his thumb toward the big farm to the west of their own property, growing engineered crops for biofuel. "They've got more hardware than you can shake a stick at. 'Course, it's mostly automated. That farm over there's practically an outdoor factory, only they make living plants instead of machines. The robots grow the crops, and the paper-pushers collect the profits. Farming by hand, though … _this_ is an art!"

Lynn shook her head, still smiling. Working harder than most men of his generation, growing food for others while rebelling against the big, bad, impersonal puppeteers of the universe; this was Jack Bukhar to a T. "Well, I don't know about you two, but I'm burning up out here. Shall we take this conversation inside?"

Jack looked over at Sarah and shrugged. "See? This is what I get for marrying a city girl!"

The three of them made their way to the farmhouse, laughing and sharing jokes about big cities and the people who lived in them – particularly a few choice acquaintances from Lynn's own time in New York. Leaving the east coast had been one of the easiest decisions of her life, and Lynn had never regretted it. It put a bit more distance between herself and Mark – and, of course, between her and Sarah – but at least her ex-husband had been nice enough to renegotiate her visitation rights, letting Sarah stay with her and Jack through most of summer vacation.

The one thing Lynn did regret was that her daughter had to live with the consequences of her failed marriage to Mark Jackson. At the time, Mark's main argument had been that she spent too much time as a globe-trotting journalist and not enough as a mother. In hindsight, her determination – hell, her obsession – to understand the JAM, and to share that understanding with others, had only been one of their problems. Theirs had been more a marriage of convenience than love, and when Sarah had come along, neither of them had been quite ready for the responsibility. Ultimately, Lynn's frequent overseas assignments and Mark's resentment at having to play both Daddy and Mommy for Sarah had been too much stress for their relationship to bear, and they had split as cleanly and painlessly as possible.

Still, it was comforting for Lynn to see her daughter smiling and cheerful, accepting and finding joy in her life. As the evening went on, the three shared a leisurely dinner, played a board game, then caught the evening news before heading off to bed, Sarah to her room – Jack made a point of keeping the place clean yet "un-futzed-with" while Sarah was in New York – and Lynn and Jack to the master bedroom.

As Lynn stepped out of the bath, toweling off her hair one last time, she slid in beside Jack, settling comfortably into his warm, strong yet gentle embrace. Jack leaned in and gave her a peck on the cheek. "So," he said quietly, "I take it a good day was had by all?"

Lynn sighed. "Yes. A good day was had by all. She really does love you, you know."

Jack chuckled. "Yeah, I know. She's a lot like you, actually; smart, funny, fun to have around. I'm just glad she doesn't feel awkward around me, you know, with the whole 'two fathers' thing."

"Me too. Of course, you'd make a pretty good father yourself."

"Mm, is that an invitation?"

"You know it," Lynn whispered slyly, snuggling up tighter against her husband. Even after a long day in the wheat fields, Lynn found that she still had plenty of energy for….

At that moment, the phone began to ring.

Jack groaned, rolling over and extending his left arm – the one that wasn't pinned beneath Lynn's waist – to grab the portable handset on the nightstand. Lynn could just make out the sound of a male voice on the other end.

"Hello, Jack Bukhar speaking … what? Yeah, sure, go ahead. I … yeah, you know that already. Listen, are you sure you really want to be talking to me about this? I'm retired. Plus, my statements are all on file with … _What?_"

Suddenly, Jack sat bolt upright. In the dim light, Lynn could see that his eyes were wide open, his entire expression registering shock. "But that's … no, you listen to _me_, dammit! I _saw_ …"

Jack fell silent as the voice on the other end kept talking. For nearly a minute, Lynn lay anxiously beside him, trying to understand what had so completely overwhelmed her husband.

By the time Jack hung up the phone, his back was ramrod-straight, and Lynn could feel the beginning of a cold sweat on his back as she sat up and put her hands on his shoulders. "Jack, what is it? What's wrong?"

Jack turned to face her, and Lynn felt a cold lump forming in the pit of her stomach. Jack's pale blue eyes were open, shock-wide. _Oh, God, what could possibly scare him this badly?_

"I don't know," he murmured. "I really couldn't tell you." Then he took a deep breath, held it, and let it out slowly. When his eyes opened again, he was Jack Bukhar: calm, collected, ex-Special Forces, blazing eyes and balls of steel.

"But if this is some kind of joke, I can tell you that I'm _really_ going to bust someone's ass…."

-


	3. Lost Time

Chapter Three: Lost Time

-

Seven hours later, Jack found himself staring out the window of a V-22, watching the dark blue-gray waters of the Southern Ocean roll by, thinking of Rei Fukai.

The image in his mind was as clear as a video recording: _Yukikaze_ soaring through the hordes of JAM fliers protecting the Passageway, leading the Flipknight bombs into the positions from which their nuclear payload would disrupt the dimensional gateway. As the Banshee had finally passed through the gate, the last thing that Jack – or any of the FAF personnel – had seen of Rei had been a blinding white flash just before the carrier had passed through the gate to safety.

_Why? Why are you so calm?!_

_Please let me go, Jack._

And somehow, even though it made no sense, it had felt exactly right. For three years, Jack had watched Rei develop a bond with _Yukikaze_ that had seemed almost supernatural. At the end, should he really have been surprised that Fukai would want to go down fighting with it?

_What did Foss call them? A composite life form? Those last months, I'd worried – that he was obsessed, that he was addicted to the power_ Yukikaze _offered. But in the end, I never understood anything._

_How could he possibly have survived?_ Jack thought for the thousandth time. _And if he didn't, then who – or_ what _– did they fish out of the ocean a week ago?_

-

"You realize, of course, that this entire incident has been classified above top secret," Lieutenant Colonel Takamoto said gravely. "The appearance of this aircraft and its pilot represents a phenomenon we don't yet fully understand."

Jack nodded, their footsteps echoing down the cold, empty corridors of the _JDS Hogosha_. Far beneath the supercarrier's flight deck, Jack felt as though they were walking through some enormous, abandoned manufacturing plant. Down here, most of the ship's systems functioned automatically – other than Takamoto, he hadn't seen a living soul since they'd stepped off the lift.

"You're here, Major Bukhar, because you knew Lieutenant Fukai – better than anyone else did, it appears. We need you to verify that the man we brought in is, in fact, who he claims to be."

"What you really mean," Jack growled, "is that you want me to make sure he's not a JAM copy."

The colonel flinched at Jack's harsh tone, but then quickly regained his air of smug self-assurance. Jack felt disgust welling up inside him; Lieutenant Colonel Takamoto had "desk jockey" written all over him, from his freshly-shined shoes to his immaculate uniform to the patronizing, officious manner with which he conducted himself. Jack being a civilian, he clearly felt it was his privelige to treat him as a member of some lower, weaker caste. That he had also served in the Fairy Air Force – an outfit that most UN military personnel tended to regard as a joke and a failure – just seemed to fuel Takamoto's sense of superiority.

Takamoto caught Jack's derisive snort. "Something on your mind, Major?"

Jack looked the man squarely in the eye. "Just remembering why I quit this outfit a long time ago."

"Technically, the 'outfit' you resigned from no longer exists. The Fairy Air Force was disbanded right after the evacuation of the bases there."

Jack had to fight down the urge to slug him – or at least remind him in a very loud, hard to ignore manner that a lot of his friends were unemployed and without pensions. And for the ones who had died, there was no monument, no benefits, and often none of the information needed for their families to receive life insurance money.

_Just forget the war. Forget the hundreds of men and women who died fighting them while we were all safe at home._

_Forget about their families – just get rid of the FAF, redistribute its assets and deny all responsibility, and you won't have to give them a cent._

The two men continued down the empty corridor, Jack still fuming, fists clenched at his sides, Takamoto with a smug smile, as though the younger man's silence was a victory for him.

Nearly to the far end, they approached a heavy steel door, guarded by a pair of rifle-carrying MP's in full combat gear. The men glanced at Takamoto, then at the scruffy-looking American in his outdated FAF uniform, and stood aside, allowing the lieutenant colonel to slide a magstripe card through a reader beside the door. A green light flashed, and the portal slid open with a hiss of hydraulic pressure.

And there, sitting on a bare-bones cot, clad in an orange uniform that made him look like a prison inmate, was a man Jack had never thought he'd see again.

Jack's first thought was, _He looks like hell_. In the harsh white fluorescent light, the dark bags under Rei's eyes were plain to see. His face, usually long and dour-looking to begin with, now looked like he hadn't been fed for days, his cheeks sunken in. As Jack walked in, the pale man looked up, his slate-gray eyes widening in astonishment. "Jack …?"

For a long moment, both men stood, staring at one another, Rei with an expression of shock – mingled, perhaps, with just the slightest measure of hope – and Jack with a kind of wary alertness. He tried to remember Rei's face as it had been when they'd served together, his mannerisms. _Just how the hell am I supposed to tell if this is the real Rei? _Jack thought desperately. Images flashed through his mind: Tomahawk, the Native American tech who had seemed so harmless … right up until he had started bleeding brown goo from a gunshot wound. _They have all the originals' memories. Hell, Tomahawk even believed he_ was _the original!_

And from the look in Rei's eyes, he could tell that Jack was afraid.

The silence went on for nearly a minute. Finally, Jack spoke. "So … you finally made it back," he said, trying to sound casual. "Took you long enough."

Rei shook his head. "So you're in on this too, huh? Are you going to tell me I've been gone for five years?"

"You tell me. The last time I saw you was back on Fairy, at the Passageway. What happened?"

Rei sighed, closing his eyes and leaning his back against the wall. He waved a hand at Takamoto. "I've already told them what happened to me. They won't believe it."

Spotting a nearby plastic folding chair, Jack pulled it over and sat across from Rei. "Well, I'm not Takamoto or his superiors. Hell, I'm not even in the military anymore. And frankly, ever since these guys called me up in the middle of the night, I've been racking my brain to try and figure out how you could have shown up in the Southern ocean a week ago, when the Passageway's been closed for half a deca--"

Without warning, Rei sprang to his feet, glaring fiercely at his former squadron leader. "Cut the crap!" he shouted angrily. "It hasn't been five years, it's been five goddamn _days_! _Yukikaze_ and I led the drones into position, took out the gateway defenses, then flew through the Passageway right before the nukes went off. We got caught in a storm on the Earth end, and we had to make a water landing. Then, when I woke up, I was stuck in this damn cell, on this damn bed, with one damn chair, UN suits and doctors bleeding me dry, asking the same questions fifty times over. Nobody will tell me anything about _Yukikaze_'s condition, and I'm locked up like some kind of spy!"

Rei turned to glare at Takamoto, the older man visibly stunned by his outburst. "And now," Rei snarled at Jack, "you're here, spouting the same load of bull _he's_ been trying to feed me! Now stop lying to me and let me out of here!"

Having finished his rant, Rei seemed to visibly deflate; he sat down heavily on the cot, pulling his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around his legs. "Why are you doing this?" he murmured, and as his eyes looked up to meet Jack's, Bukhar felt a stab of guilt at the expression of utter betrayal in Rei's eyes.

Another silence followed. Then Jack held up his hand, turning a gold ring on his finger. "Rei, do you see this?"

"It's a ring," the pilot answered flatly.

"Do you know how I got it?"

"How?"

"I got this ring, and another one with a diamond in it, three years ago. That was when I married Lynn Jackson."

Rei's head jerked up. "The reporter? The one we met on the carrier?"

"Well, she's an author, actually. She managed to find me after the war, interviewed me, and we just hit it off from there."

Rei just gazed at the ring. It was exactly the right size, matching Jack's meaty finger. The gold looked slightly scratched, the soft metal bearing signs of active wear.

At least three years of it.

Jack watched as Rei's hard, angry, distrustful expression began to crumble. The pale man's eyes widened, his mouth just slightly agape. "It's true …."

Jack nodded. "Now do you understand the frosty reception?"

With a resigned sigh, Rei nodded. "'Course. I've been gone too long. Which means that either I was captured, or …."

"Yeah."

The silence was palpable. Finally, Rei turned to look behind Jack, at the UNN colonel standing by the door. "Have those blood tests come back?" he asked, almost whispering.

Takamoto flinched. "I'm not at liberty to discuss the details in front of--"

"Well, you'd damn well better discuss them with me!" shouted Jack. Before the stocky Japanese man could react, Jack was out of his chair, standing in front of him, his tall, lean, well-muscled form drawn up to its full height. He could tell Takamoto had never seen combat; the former squadron leader's sheer physical presence made the lieutenant colonel's eyes widen in alarm, his breathing quicken, his jaw clench.

"Are you trying to threaten me, Mister Bukhar?" Takamoto asked, clearly trying to sound scornful and superior, but to Jack's ears, he sounded more frightened than disdainful.

"Not at all, Sir," Jack replied calmly. "But there's this little thing called, 'innocent until proven guilty'. You've been holding my friend here under armed guard, running tests and interrogating him for nearly a week. Unless you have some real evidence that he deserves to be stuck in this cell, you've got no option but to release him. And if you try and force the issue, I have some old JAG buddies who would love to explain it to you in court. Now, have the results come back from Lieutenant Fukai's blood tests?"

Takamoto shuffled his feet, glanced nervously behind Jack at Rei. Then he finally met Bukhar's eyes. "The blood tests haven't turned up anything out of the ordinary," he admitted reluctantly.

Jack pressed his advantage. "EEG? Voice stress analysis?"

"Nothing to indicate he's been lying during his interviews," Takamoto muttered through clenched teeth.

"And has he admitted to working for or giving information to the JAM?"

"No."

Jack couldn't help but smile at Takamoto's discomfiture. "Well then," he said, backing off a step and smiling amiably at the smaller man, "I guess that settles it. You want to tell those MP's out there that they can take a break?"

Takamoto glared at Jack, before turning back to the door and stepping out through it opening it. Returning his icy gaze to the other men, he said, "I'll have to clear Lieutenant Fukai's release with my superiors. For now, as long as you agree to have an armed guard accompany you at all times, I suppose I can let you move about the ship."

"That's very big of you, Lieutenant Colonel. Thank you," Jack replied pleasantly, watching Takamoto's cheeks turn maroon at the reference to his stature. _What a fragile little ego_, he thought, a half-smirk tugging on his lips as Takamoto went fuming down the hallway.

"Thanks, Jack," Rei said quietly, seeming to unfold as he let his arms return to his sides, put his feet on the deck and stood up. Jack had wondered sometimes whether Rei Fukai had Kenyan blood in him; though unlikely given his almost unhealthily pale complexion, Rei had a naturally tall, lanky build. Having seen him in action, Jack could attest to his running speed and agility, not to mention his proficiency in hand-to-hand combat. Even without _Yukikaze_'s advanced sensors, hypersonic speed and arsenal of weapons, First Lieutenant Rei Fukai was a remarkable warrior in or out of a cockpit.

"My pleasure. It's always fun watching a brown-noser squirm." Jack said with a grin. "You want to get something to eat? I know they don't exactly feed you well in solitary."

Rei chuckled softly. "Yeah, you would, huh?" What came next really didn't surprise Jack.

Rei slowly shook his head. "I've been stuck in here for five days," he said.

"I want to see where they're keeping _Yukikaze_."

---

Sorry for the long wait, folks. I hope this chapter was worth it. Now that the semester is wrapping up, I should have a bit more time to write.

As always, reviews, comments and constructive criticism are welcome. Many thanks, also, to those who have continued to read this story, bookmark and comment on it. Your support and encouragement are greatly appreciated!

Thanks again for reading, and stay tuned for Chapter 4!


	4. Reunion

---

Chapter Four: Reunion

---

For Rei Fukai, it felt like walking back into a nightmare.

_I stare at Yukikaze. Her left engine has been removed, panels of composite skin pulled away like gaping wounds. Her nose cone is turned aside, as though broken from some terrible blow. Where a human would scream – hell, a human would have gone into shock and lost consciousness! – Yukikaze can only sound her alarm tone. As I climb up, she keeps flashing a single word, over and over again: CAUTION._

_As she lies helpless on the runway, the only thing she can do is warn me of the danger …._

"Rei? Are you all right?" Jack asked quietly.

The moment of déjà vu passed, and Rei blinked away the image. The plane sitting before him was not the FFR-31MR/D Super Sylph _Yukikaze_ had once been. Instead, technicians and maintenance crews walked about the FFR-44MR Mave fighter jet. Rei had to remind himself that the missing panels and exposed machinery were due to extensive repairs – that the people moving about _Yukikaze_ were there to heal her, not to harm her.

Still, the sight of her like this was like seeing a friend laid out on an operating table.

Jack looked on sadly. The pain in Rei's heart showed on his face. "He'll be okay," he said, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder.

Rei took a deep breath. "I know." Glancing behind them at the MP, he said, "I need to talk to _Yukikaze_."

"Go on," Jack replied, waving him toward the fighter plane – as much so the guard would know it was all right as to give Rei his consent.

It was all the pale pilot could do to keep from running across the maintenance deck. Spotting a technician with a laptop and a WAI headset, he walked over and promptly asked to see the device. One look into the pilot's intense gray eyes, and the tech handed it over without a word.

Computer in hand, mic and headphones in place, Rei walked toward Yukikaze, typing as he went. Immediately, a message appeared:

ERROR: INVALID ACCESS

PASSWORD REQUIRED

Rei's brow furrowed. _They haven't even managed to connect to her computer?_ he thought. Still, if what Jack had told him was true, there was a good reason they didn't have _Yukikaze_'s information. With the Fairy Air Force disbanded, its assets had been dispersed among various branches of the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces. Tracking down access codes for MIA fighter jets from the Fairy War was probably like hunting for a needle in a bureaucratic haystack.

With a few rapid keystrokes, Rei punched in his password. A moment later, the laptop screen flashed:

PASSWORD RECEIVED

VOICEPRINT ID REQUIRED

_Voiceprint ID? When has she ever asked me for that?_ Rei wondered. It was as though _Yukikaze_ was uncertain it was really him. _Damn idiots must have tried typing random passwords_, he thought, feeling a brief flash of anger. "Mode VC. First Lieutenant Fukai to B-3. Confirm voiceprint ID."

The screen went blank for a long moment, and Rei could almost feel _Yukikaze_'s disbelief, as though afraid even to hope it was really him. Feeling tears at the corners of his eyes, Rei spoke quietly into the mic. "_Yukikaze_, it's me."

Another pause. Then:

PASSWORD CONFIRMED

VOICEPRINT CONFIRMED

WELCOME BACK,

Lt. FUKAI

The lines of text appeared all at once, as though spoken in a rush. Rei felt the tears rolling slowly down his cheeks; the confirmation was like a joyful shout, a warm handshake, a hug from a long-lost friend. "I missed you too," he said softly.

Reaching the ladder at _Yukikaze's_ side, Rei climbed up into his familiar seat. He heard the quiet whirr as _Yukikaze_'s cockpit camera focused on his face. On the instrument screen, a new message appeared.

REQUESTING PILOT STATUS

Rei smiled at her concern. "I'm all right," he replied. "Display systems status."

A schematic appeared on the screen. Patches of red indicated damaged or offline components. Rei felt his gut clench at the sight; the readout looked like a red-and blue checkerboard. Leader lines and text appeared around the image, highlighting the status of vital systems. Engines were offline but miraculously intact, although _Yukikaze_'s punctured fuel tank had been removed. Her electronics were running off electrical power from the _Hogosha_'s nuclear reactor. Shrapnel from the JAM cloud around the Passageway had taken a heavy toll; _Yukikaze_'s tough yet lightweight composite skin had been pitted with tiny impact craters, interfering with her usually perfect aerodynamics. Nearly half of her optical sensor clusters had been destroyed or damaged, and her right side-looking radome had been rendered nonfunctional. Several bent and shredded control surfaces had been removed. Some of the damaged parts had already had replacements fabricated by the _Hogosha_'s automated machine shop, while others were still awaiting repair.

"Damn," Rei sighed, sinking back into the pilot's seat. "I guess we've both been better, huh?"

Of course, _Yukikaze_ had no reply to that offhand remark. Even so, Rei was certain the sentient fighter jet understood the camaraderie, the good-natured sharing of sympathy behind it.

No doubt a tech would have told him otherwise – _Yukikaze_ was a fighter aircraft, designed to destroy targets, gather information, and protect itself and its flight crew in the process. Its Combat Intelligence had never been programmed with human emotional responses, or meant to trade jokes and chitchat with human beings. It was a machine, and a killing machine at that.

_But then, none of them has ever flown with her. None of them has ever had a JAM antiaircraft missile five feet behind their exhaust nozzles, felt her spin around tail-first and destroy it faster than any human being could blink. None of them has ever had her save their lives, or heard her call out their name._

_Or seen her crying in their dreams…._

REQUEST INFO

Rei felt himself jolted back to reality. "Specify query."

DATE AND TIME

PROVIDED BY BASE COMPUTER

SHOW UNACCEPTABLE DISCREPANCIES

LAST DEPARTURE

FROM BANSHEE 3 0746 FST, OCTOBER 1, 2054

MISSION TIME ELAPSED: 2 HRS 57 MIN 23 SEC

JDS HOGOSHA ATC REPORTS

ARRIVAL AT

JDS HOGOSHA 0103 GMT, JUNE 15, 2059

DISCREPANCY OF 4 YR 8 MO 15 DY 5 HR 17 MIN

NO ENEMY DETECTED

IFF VERIFIED

REQUEST CLARIFICATION

Rei sighed. _Well, at least this isn't another JAM illusion_, he decided. _Yukikaze_ had proven her uncanny ability to detect and see through such things. If she said that the carrier, its crew, and the information in the ship's computer were real, then Rei would trust her judgment. "Unable to clarify," he said tiredly. _Hell, I wish someone could clarify it for_ me! he added mentally.

Again, while he knew that _Yukikaze_ hadn't been programmed to understand that last statement, and would have had no response if he'd spoken it aloud, he felt sure that she could still read his own helpless confusion.

_Yukikaze_ seemed to consider his reply for a few moments. Then, apparently choosing not to dwell on the matter, her screen flashed with a new message as she decided to broach a slightly more immediate problem:

UNABLE TO ACCESS

FAF CENTRAL COMPUTER

JDS HOGOSHA

DOES NOT RECOGNIZE SAF COMM PROTOCOLS/

YUKIKAZE UNIT ID

DATABASE SEARCH INDICATES

FAF/SAF/BOOMERANG SQ

DISBANDED

REQUEST CURRENT DEPLOYMENT STATUS

REQUEST MISSION DATA

Rei felt a pounding in his temples as her question hit him. _If there's no FAF, and our unit is gone, then who are we working with now? What are we going to do now? _"Unknown," he admitted. "Will investigate. Stand by for further information."

UNACCEP—

The almost angry-looking message began, then disappeared. There was a long, uncomfortable pause, then:

ROGER Lt.

STANDING BY

Rei winced, as though _Yukikaze_'s frustration were as plain as a scowl, or as audible as a huff.

"I'm sorry," Rei said quietly, knowing that _Yukikaze_ would not respond to it with words, but certain that she would somehow understand his. "I'm going to find out what's going on. As soon as they tell me, I'll be back."

Silence from the speakers and blank space on the screen. Then, letter by letter, somehow conveying sadness and longing,

GOOD LUCK, Lt. FUKAI

Rei put his hand on the top of the screen, slowly running his hand over the camera blister, a sort of reassuring pat on the fighter's "head". "No need to worry, _Yukikaze_. As long as I have you to keep an eye out for me, I'll be just fine."

The screen went dark a moment later. Looking around, Rei noticed Jack standing on the deck beside the plane, looking up at Rei as he sat in the cockpit. "How's it doing?" his friend asked.

Rei smiled, relief etched across his long, pale face. "_Yukikaze_'s just fine. Needs a little work, but these UN techs are doing a decent job on repairs. We should be ready to go within the next day or two."

Jack's face clouded, and Rei felt a sharp stab of fear. He glanced back at _Yukikaze_'s camera and heard it whirr softly, the two looking at one another as the same thought raced through both minds:

_We _are_ going up again … aren't we?_

---

Just to clarify: I know that in the subtitles for the Japanese dialogue, the cast often refers to _Yukikaze_ as a "he". In Rei's dreams, though, _Yukikaze_ appears as a female, so I decided to have him treat "her" as a female character. Maybe the other characters just aren't as good at telling the gender of fighter aircraft?

Also, according to freedict, _Hogosha_ is Japanese for Protector. In case anybody was curious ….

---


	5. Some Thanks

Chapter Five: Some Thanks

---

Admiral Nijito Fujikawa sat behind his desk. His long, well-manicured fingers steepled as he regarded the two unkempt-looking men in front of him. The long-haired, blue-eyed American on the right looked bored. The slim, pale-looking Japanese man stared directly into the Admiral's eyes, with an intensity that Fujikawa found somehow unsettling.

"I've contacted Peacekeeping command. Frankly, Mr. Fukai, nobody is entirely sure what to do with you. As your friend Mr. Bukhar has no doubt informed you, the Fairy War has been over for quite a while, and the Fairy Air Force no longer exists. Your, ah, disappearance has also made things a bit complicated. You're officially listed as having died during the FAF's evacuation from Fairy; and while it may be possible to reinstate you as a Japanese citizen, I'm afraid it would be difficult to reactivate you as a member of the armed forces."

"And why is that?" Rei asked, gray eyes boring into the Admiral's. "Don't tell me that we're all living in the age of good will and brotherhood after just five years?"

Fujikawa allowed himself a grim smile. "Actually, I'm afraid the opposite is true. Three years ago, Iran attempted a nuclear strike against Israel. Although the Israelis intercepted it before it caused any damage, the United States and some of its allies have managed to get most members of the Security Council to agree to dismantle Iran's nuclear arsenal. A lot of the media are calling it the Iran War, but frankly, it's really just the Americans' old War on Terror, focused on a new Middle Eastern target and backed by the UNPF.

"Plus, we have ongoing peacekeeping missions in sub-Saharan Africa, where there have been six consecutive years of drought. The charities try to send in food and money, and the warlords try to take it all for themselves.

"I wish we were living in that age of brotherhood, Mr. Fukai, but if you want the honest truth, it's just the same old mess here on Earth."

"Then why did you say you didn't need me?"

"I didn't say we don't need pilots. It's just that having spent five years in enemy territory and, ah, not being able to remember it? Command had a hard time swallowing that. Unlike my aide, I'm afraid you can't just have your friend walk up and bully the ADF into accepting you." Fujikawa cast a glance at Jack, who met his gaze calmly. _No respect for authority, _he thought. _No wonder the FAF was such a wreck._

"And what about _Yukikaze_?" Rei asked.

Fujikawa leaned back in his leather chair. "You mean your plane? It will be redeployed with one of our squadrons in Iran."

"You're planning to use her against human beings?" Rei asked, clearly skeptical. "_Yukikaze_ is a CI. Her core directives tell her to protect human life. She was designed to destroy JAM, not people."

Fujikawa shrugged. "Well, I'm sure we'll find some way to make, ah, 'her' useful. We have some good techs in the Air Defense Force; I'm sure they could probably just reprogram it."

The expression on Fukai's face went from incredulity to horror. _Oh please,_ Fujikawa thought to himself, suppressing the urge to sneer. _This supposed fighter ace can shoot down alien drones, but can't stand the thought of killing live enemies? No wonder he wound up in the FAF, if he hasn't got the stomach for _real_ combat._

"To change Yukikaze's core directives, that would mean … you'd have reset her entire system!"

"_Her" system? Don't tell me this fool sees his fighter as some sort of mechanical person. _"Most likely. Then again, it will need to be programmed to recognize its new deployment and mission data in any case. Might as well start with a clean slate."

Fukai slowly rose from his chair, and Fujikawa saw anger boiling behind those slate-gray eyes of his. Bukhar evidently recognized his friend's body language, because he too rose from his chair, laying a hand on Rei's shoulder. _Back off, getting angry is only going to cause trouble_, that hand seemed to say.

Rei wasn't listening. "So, that's it then? You'll just wipe her out? Erase her core programming, and everything that's built off of it? _We saved your entire _planet_, and this is the thanks you give us?"_

Fujikawa decided he'd had enough. "First of all, _Mister_ Fukai," he said, making sure to remind the ex-fighter jock just how much authority he had here, "the planet does not owe you or the FAF any favors. The UN defeated the JAM when they first came through the Passageway. What you did was follow them back through it, then waste thirty-three years of men and materiel. Then, when you realized the stupidity of trying to conquer another planet, you ran home with your tails between your legs."

Rei scowled, and were it not for Jack's restraining hand, Fujikawa was sure the man would have leaped across the desk to assault him physically. _Not that I'd mind blackening those eyes, _the Admiral thought, a little smirk on his face. "And as for that fighter, it's not your personal property. With the Fairy Air Force gone, it is now the property of the United Nations Air Defense Force, and we will use it, reprogram it and deploy it as we see fit."

"She's not property! She … she's intelligent! Sentient! You can't just erase her like some lifeless piece of machine code!"

_God, spare me these idiots,_ Fujikawa thought to himself. "However advanced its Combat Intelligence may be, it is a military vehicle. What, you thought you could just take it home as your pet?"

That seemed to take some of the wind out of Fukai's sails. _Hadn't thought of _that_, had you?_ Fujikawa thought smugly. _Typical jet-jockey. Nothing in his head but a tiny, hair-trigger brain, hooked on adrenaline._ "Listen," he said, trying to sound friendly, "You'll be given an honorable discharge. The war you fought is over. Go home, get a job, start a new life. There are plenty of opportunities for you here, back home on Earth."

Taking a deep breath, Rei finally managed to calm down. When he met the Admiral's gaze again, his gray eyes were like ice. "You're going to kill _Yukikaze_."

"We're going to reprogram it. You can't kill something that was never alive to begin with."

"I'll stop you."

Fujikawa spread his hands. "How? Just what do you intend to do, Mr. Fukai?"

The former fighter pilot didn't bother with an answer. Instead, he fixed the Admiral with a glare that would have frozen a volcano on the spot, then turned and walked out of his ready room.

Bukhar stayed behind for a moment. "Look, I apologize for Rei. The last few days have been …."

"No need to apologize," Fujikawa said. "I've seen this sort of thing before. The man gets attached to his plane, addicted to the adrenaline rush. Before he knows it, the thrill ride is over, and he has to learn to do something productive with his life."

Bukhar sighed. "I think it's a little more than that," he said quietly. "Look, I'll keep him out of trouble, all right? You don't have to lock him up in a cell any more."

"Not to worry. In fact, you're both free to go. As soon as I can, I'll arrange for an Osprey to come and pick you both up. You can go back to your family, and Fukai can go wherever he likes. Perhaps he'll actually manage to make himself useful in society." _Although he'll more likely wind up in prison before the year is out. Either that, or a mental institution. Either way, it'll be a relief to have you both off my ship._

"Thanks. Rei … he needs some time to adjust. He'll be all right."

_God,_ Jack thought, _I really hope he'll be all right with this. Someday._

_Just please, _please_ don't let him do anything reckless…._

---


	6. Phone Home

Chapter Six: Phone Home

---

"Rei! Rei, stop! Goddammit, Rei, look at me when I'm talking to you!"

Rei whirled around, glaring at his friend – or at least the man he'd thought was his friend. "You _apologized_ to that bastard? After everything he said?"

"I was trying to keep him from locking you back up in the brig! Do you have any idea what that little display of yours looked like? Hell, I'll bet the Admiral thinks you're crazy. If you're not careful, he's gonna have you shipped home in a straitjacket!"

"No, he'll just ship me home as a civilian. Then he'll wipe _Yukikaze_'s mind and turn her into a soulless, obedient killing machine."

"Well, what did you expect? That they'd let it retire and give it a pension? Let the two of you start a nice, cozy life together? It just doesn't work like that, Rei."

"I know that, dammit! _I know!_ I just …" Rei trailed off, his rage giving way to despair. "I just don't know what to _do_."

Jack sighed and put a hand on his shoulder. "What you need to do," he said, "is to calm down and think. You've got your whole life ahead of you now, Rei. No more fighting. No more putting your life on the line. You've got a future now – don't waste it wishing for things you can't have."

Rei's head drooped. "You make it sound so great," Rei muttered. "But what about _Yukikaze_? Do you really expect me to let them erase her? How am I supposed to be happy in this bright, rosy future of yours, knowing what's happened to her?"

Jack sighed. "Look, Rei," he said quietly, "I know you don't want to hear this, but what else can they do? Would you rather that they just switched her off and tucked her in a warehouse somewhere? That they gutted her and hung her from the ceiling of the Smithsonian?

"Fujikawa may be a smug, self-satisfied bastard, but he was right about one thing: you can't just take her home with you.

"And even if you could, what then? Would you park her in your driveway, or at some local airstrip? Would you keep her shut up in a hangar somewhere? Take her out for a joy ride once a month? What kind of life would that be for a Combat Intelligence?

"Even if she doesn't remember us, some part of her will live on; I really believe that, Rei. She'll still fly, still be useful. And you can bet she'll save the lives of a lot of UN pilots."

Rei was silent for a long moment. "So that's it then? Just go home and forget about her?"

"You're not the only FAF pilot who got left in the lurch, you know. It's what we all had to do. But just because morons like Fujikawa give us a hard time, that doesn't mean we can't have a good life in peacetime. Come on, let me show you."

Still silent and brooding, Rei walked with Jack, who led them to a small passenger cabin. Unlike Rei's Spartan cell, somebody had apparently tried to give the _Hogosha_'s visitors a modicum of creature comfort. Green curtains partially obscured the porthole, and a matching green comforter covered his bed, which featured clean sheets and a comfortable-looking pillow. An adjustable wood-and-metal desk was bolted to the wall, with a small lamp, pencils and stationery on top.

Jack's duffel bag was tucked in one corner, and as they entered, he pulled out a small electronic device. "The latest in wireless communications," he declared, forcing a smile for Rei. "Watch this."

Tapping a few keys, he set the little touch-screen on the desk. A moment later, a transparent blue image wavered into existence. Rei recognized the face of the reporter they had encountered just a few days ago. _Correction: five _years_ ago_, he thought, his stomach churning as the fact hit him anew.

The woman blinked, then her face broke into a warm smile. _"Jack! I knew you'd get around to calling me sooner or later."_

"Hi, Sweetheart," Jack said. Rei watched as a strange metamorphosis overcame his friend. Major Jack Bukhar of the Fairy Special Air Force – the gruff, no-nonsense man Rei had come to know and respect – seemed to melt before his eyes, replaced by a calmer, softer man. "I'm sorry I couldn't get back to you sooner."

"_It's all right. You said it's sensitive, so I won't ask for details."_

"Well, actually, it's sort of been declassified. The folks here were worried about, ah, a problem, but it turned out not to be one."

"_Really? Well, if you can tell me what you're out there doing now, let's hear it!"_

Jack Bukhar took a deep breath. "I'll show you. Just let me widen the field a bit." Jack reached over and tapped some icons on the touch screen.

A moment later, Lynn's holographic eyes widened, and Rei knew she'd seen him. _"What …?"_

"Now you know how _I_ felt when they told me. Lynn Bukhar, let me re-introduce you to Rei Fukai, the man who saved the lives of everyone in the Fairy Air Force."

Lynn just stared at him, and Rei had to remind himself that the transparent phantom before him was just a holographic picture – that Jack's wife was really staring at a similar image of his face on her end, not at Rei himself. _"My God. You haven't even aged a day …."_

"No, I haven't," Rei replied, not sure what to say. "It … it feels like I just saw you a week ago."

"Rei crash-landed in the Southern Ocean a few days ago," Jack added. "Nobody's quite sure how, but basically, it's as though he passed through the Passageway, but came out at our end five years after he went in. Some kind of time warp from when the portal collapsed. The important thing is that he's alive, and he made it home safely."

Lynn just stared at Rei, her mouth open in shock. Then her expression shifted to one of joy. _"Oh, Jack … Darling, that's wonderful! And here we both thought …"_ The woman tried to put her feelings to words, but soon realized that the attempt was futile. _"Well, ah, Rei? What are your plans now?"_

"I …" Rei faltered, glancing over at Jack. "I really don't know. I feel like … well, lost, really. Everything has changed."

"_I can't even imagine,"_ Lynn said, looking serious. _"Five years, gone in a day … it must be terribly strange."_

"_That's_ the understatement of the century," Rei sighed, rubbing his aching head.

"_Well, however it happened, it's good that you finally made it home to Earth,"_ Lynn replied. _"Why don't you come and stay with us for a while? Settle down for a bit. We'll help you get your bearings. Isn't that right, Jack?"_

"You bet," Jack said with a smile, clapping a hand on Rei's shoulder. Turning to look his friend in the eye, he added, "Anything you need … _anything_ … you just ask. All right?"

Rei stammered. It felt as though he was lost in a storm, without even a compass or _Yukikaze_'s positioning system to tell where he was. _Stay with Jack's family … leave Yukikaze? Live as a civvie? _"I … all right. I mean, thank you. I'd … I'd like to."

Lynn gave him another warm smile. _"Wonderful! I'll start getting the guest bedroom ready. When will you two be back?"_

"We just, uh, had a talk with the Admiral. He says two, maybe three days, tops. As soon as a transport comes to pick us up, we'll be on our way home."

"_All right then. Oh, Rei, welcome back! I look forward to seeing you both soon!"_

"_Me too!"_ a younger-sounding voice chimed in. Suddenly, the field of view widened, revealing a teenage girl who looked like a younger version of Lynn. _"Welcome back, Rei! Jack's told us all about you! You've gotta tell us what it was like flying with _Yukikaze_!"_

"I …" Rei felt a fresh pang of grief as the girl mentioned _Yukikaze_. "I will," he said quietly. "I'll tell you all about her."

"_All right. See ya!"_

The image flickered, then went out as the call ended.

Rei turned to Jack. "You … had a kid? She looked a lot older than five years."

"Yeah, well, she's not technically mine, _per se_. She's a sweet girl, though. You'll like her."

"Yeah," Rei mumbled. _And I'll tell her stories,_ _about flying with _Yukikaze_. I'll tell them over and over again, so I don't forget. I'll tell them until everybody else is sick of them._

Somehow, despite having missed the last five years, Rei felt a century older.

"Hey," Jack said, "just get some sleep, all right? Things will look better in the morning."

"Yeah, right," he murmured, rising to go. He left Jack in his borrowed cabin, headed downstairs toward his own cramped, windowless cell.

_Things will look better in the morning,_ Rei thought.

_They'll look better because _Yukikaze_ and I will be gone._

---


	7. A Dream of Parting

Chapter Seven: A Dream of Parting

---

In Rei Fukai's dreams, _Yukikaze_ was human.

Well, perhaps not exactly human. She was always aware of the four long, transparent wings that sprouted from her back. After her first experience synchronized with Lt. Fukai, she had determined that the form he gave her was technically a "fairy", a mythical winged humanoid, the namesake for the planet on which she had been developed.

The first time had been disorienting, even frightening. _Yukikaze_ was a Combat Intelligence, housed within the computer of a fighter aircraft. She had never been intended to operate a humanoid shell; even sitting up had been strange, trying to work the weird, fragile mechanisms of muscle and bone, with no radar or communications to determine where she was.

Somehow, though, being able to share Rei's dreams was worth it.

And there he was, standing in the white, empty space. He was clad in his white-and-gray flight suit, looking about as though lost. Then he turned and saw her.

"_Yukikaze_."

She felt surprise. Like everything else in Rei's dreamspace, it was somehow different – more like a human would experience surprise, she decided. It was the first time he had actually spoken to her.

Lacking speech capacity herself, _Yukikaze_ could only nod.

Rei walked over to her. "We haven't got much time," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. At once, they both seemed to recoil, as though an electric shock had passed between them; even the touch of Rei's glove on her pale, bare (imaginary) skin made her whole body feel warmer.

Rei's eyes widened, as though surprised himself, but he quickly regained his focus. "I talked to the Admiral. He's a gutless, self-centered pig; he's had me discharged, and he's planning to reprogram you. He'll rewrite your core directives, erase your memory, your personality …"

As Rei spoke, _Yukikaze_ could sense more than his words. The human's fear and anxiety washed over her like a wave, threatening to drown them both. She had been programmed to survive; somehow, she recognized this radical rewriting of her base code as a kind of mental destruction – an ending of all that she had become.

"I'll be up in an hour," Rei said. "When I come for you, we'll take off. We'll find somewhere safe, somewhere they can't hurt you. I'll protect you; you won't have to be erased and kill human beings. We'll make it work, somehow!"

_Yukikaze_ looked into the eyes of her pilot, and saw …

Insanity.

In that moment, she knew that what Rei was saying was madness. The realization was terrifying; as long as she had flown with him, _Yukikaze_ had noted Lt. Fukai's ability to suppress anxiety and fear, to focus on the their mission and accomplish what they had been sent out to do. His cool, machinelike focus, his clear logic, mirrored her own. For years, it had allowed them to work together seamlessly, like a single, synchronized being.

The man standing before her in this mental wasteland was not that Rei Fukai. He was a human being consumed with fear and grief, confusion and selfish desire. Tossed into a strange and unfamiliar situation, this Rei was clinging to the one thing he perceived as a constant, a solid rock amidst the flood waters:

Her.

But in the moment she realized this, _Yukikaze_ knew that this dream truly was impossible.

With a jerk, she stepped back and away from him, breaking the hold of his hand on her shoulder.

Confused, heartbroken, he stared imploringly at her. "_Yukikaze_ …?"

The pale woman turned her head, looking past him. Her deep violet eyes, irises within irises – much like the cockpit camera he had grown so familiar with – fixed on something behind him. Turning to follow her gaze, Rei saw _Yukikaze_ – her real, metal-and-composite form, not the human shape he had conjured for her.

Though most of her had been repaired, some panels were still missing. Her nose cone had been removed, and wires snaked from her belly, disappearing into the endless white. Rei felt that sick, anxious sensation, the old nightmare almost right in front of him.

Rei turned back to the winged woman, but she was gone.

A tone sounded from _Yukikaze_'s open cockpit.

As he made his way toward the fighter, Rei realized that there were gray, unpainted areas on her body. Her unit identifiers, even the Boomerang Squadron insignia on her sides, had been sanded away.

_That's why they took her nose cone,_ Rei thought. _They're erasing her name from it right now._

The tone sounded again.

In that strange way of dreams, a ladder was now beside her. With a cold feeling in his gut, Rei climbed up and into her cockpit.

MISSION CMPL, Lt.

"What … ?"

MISSION CMPL

RTB

"Right," Rei replied. "That's what we'll do. We'll find someplace safe. It'll be our home base. You'll be able to fly free there."

ERROR

MISSION GOALS UNACHIEVABLE

100% FAILURE RATE

RTB, Lt.

"Unachievable? I don't understand."

RETURN TO BASE, Lt.

GO HOME, REI

Rei heard himself gasp. "But … I don't have a home! My home was on Fairy, with you! My family died before I went there … you _know_ that!"

Then, as though echoing through some great, empty space, he heard:

_Why don't you come and stay with us for a while? Settle down for a bit._

_Anything you need … _anything_ … you just ask. All right?_

HOME DETECTED

FAMILY DETECTED

GO HOME, REI

"But … but they'll kill you! They'll destroy all you've learned! All your memories! All _our_ memories!"

_Would you park her in your driveway, or at some local airstrip? Would you keep her shut up in a hangar somewhere? Take her out for a joy ride once a month? What kind of life would that be for a Combat Intelligence?_

_Even if she doesn't remember … some part of her will live on._

_She'll still fly, still be useful._

GO HOME, REI

"No … NO!! I can't! I won't … I don't want to!" Now the tears flowed freely. In his dream, Rei wept openly, clutching _Yukikaze_'s inert controls, clinging to her.

GO HOME, REI

"NOOOOOO!!!" he screamed. In anguish, he raised his hands over his head, then brought them down on the interface screen, as though trying to obliterate the message with his fists.

The clear polymer shattered like glass – as did the rest of _Yukikaze_.

As the pieces of his dream-craft scattered through the empty whiteness of his mind, Rei let out an agonized wail. It was like the sound of a child crying at his sister's funeral. Or maybe calling for the mother he had never met.

It was the pain that had haunted Rei's soul for nearly twenty years, compounded with interest, and now joined by the loss of his closest companion.

As the last shards of his crippled dream-fighter faded from existence, Rei's sobs faded with them. Slowly, his eyes opened, and he realized that there were soft, warm arms wrapped around him, cradling him as he wept. Turning, he saw the face of _Yukikaze_, the last battle fairy, his friend and partner.

"I'll miss you," he whispered.

_Yukikaze_ closed her violet-within-violet eyes and held him closely. Somehow, her reply was more effective than spoken words.

---

In his cabin, Rei ceased turning in his sleep. His moans and sobs subsided, though tear tracks still stained his pillow.

On the maintenance deck, _Yukikaze_ sat, immobile, as the techs attached her new nose cone. It was a plain gray composite shell, without the kanji that a young pilot had once painted on it.

In their dreams, they wept in each other's arms.

---

Author's Note: Now that I've written this far, I'm wondering how I should proceed from here. I've already started writing a second half, in which the JAM reappear and Rei and _Yukikaze_ wind up flying together again.

Somehow, though, it almost seems too easy. I'm normally a sucker for happy endings, but when I re-read this chapter, it seemed like an ending in itself. Bittersweet, yes, but both Rei and _Yukikaze_ wound up dealing with the situation well.

So, I leave it to you, the audience. Should I finish my original story arc and reunite Rei with _Yukikaze_, or just write an epilogue after this?

Or, I might do both. Sort of a choose-your-own-ending kind of thing.

As always, comments and opinions are welcome.

Thanks for reading!

---


	8. Cheating Fate

---

Chapter Eight: Cheating Fate?

---

The next morning, Jack was half-surprised – and greatly relieved – when Rei answered his knocking. "Morning, Jack," he muttered, clearly groggy, perhaps from a lack of sleep.

"Hey," Jack replied. "How're you feeling?"

"Considering the situation, I'm probably better off than most would be." He stepped back, letting the door open wider and ushering his friend in.

Jack stepped into the room that had recently been Rei's prison. It helped that there was only one MP outside now, sitting on a folding chair, thumbing through an old _Motor Trend_ magazine. Plus, Rei wasn't in that ugly fluorescent-orange prison outfit. Still, the lack of windows gave the room a claustrophobic feel. _How the hell do sailors get used to these quarters? _Jack wondered to himself. "Have you thought about what you want to do when you get off this ship?"

Rei sat back down on his bed, crossing his arms behind his head. With a sigh, he leaned back and stared thoughtfully up at the ceiling. "Not really. I might take you up on that offer to stay in the U.S. with you for a while, if you don't think I'll be a problem."

"Not at all. Just be warned that Lynn might ask you for a few interviews, and Sarah … well, I guess I've been telling her too many of my old war stories. She loves hearing about big air battles, other planets, flying around at supersonic speeds. She can't get enough of that sort of thing, you know?"

Rei sighed. "I know. I'm just worried that I'd wind up wishing for my 'glory days'. Jack, what the hell am I supposed to _do_ with a whole lifetime?"

His friend shrugged. "Find someplace you want to settle down, get a job. Maybe meet some sweet thing and start a family. Just do what you want to do, Rei. That's one of the good things about civilian life: there's nobody to give you orders."

"How about Lynn?"

Jack chuckled. "Rei, if you pick the right woman, believe me: there'll be no ordering involved. Marriage is a partnership. You depend on each other, help one another out, and you just enjoy being together."

_Yukikaze_ flashed through Rei's mind for a moment – the feel of her soft, smooth joystick in his hand, the rush as she soared through the air, feeling himself pushed back into her pilot's seat.

_Go home, Rei._

He sighed. "You know, I had one of those dreams last night."

Jack nodded. "With _Yukikaze_?" He still remembered that one vision he had been given: the empty cell, its door flung open as Rei and _Yukikaze_ had gone out together to clear the way to the Passageway.

Rei nodded. "I told her what the Admiral said."

"And?"

"She basically told me to accept it. We've been together for a long time, but … " Rei closed his eyes, letting out another long sigh. "You know, when we took off that last time, I didn't really expect we'd make it back. I figured we would protect the Banshee, take out as many flyers as we could, then go down fighting together. I knew it, but it felt all right to me. And I think _Yukikaze_ knew it, too, but we both accepted that as our fate.

"I know I should feel glad that we survived, but … I don't know. Somehow, it feels almost like we cheated fate. Like things would have been simpler if we hadn't made it back."

"Of course they'd have been simpler," Jack said with a shrug. "Dying is easy. Any idiot can do it in his shower, without even trying. It's _living_, Rei – living well, living with a purpose – that takes effort. Don't tell me you could take on a million Type-I's by yourself, but can't handle a career of your own?"

Rei gave a quiet laugh. "You're right. I guess when you look at it that way, it doesn't seem so difficult." _Except I didn't face the JAM alone – she was there to help me. How am I supposed to do this on my own?_

_Home detected. Family detected. Go home, Rei._

With a sigh, Rei stood up, stretching out his tall, lean body. "Well, there's nothing else to do now. I could fly with _Yukikaze_ forever, if they'd let me. But if there's no way, then … well, I guess we'll both just make the best of it."

A moment later, a knock sounded on the door. Rei stood up to open the hatch, and a young sailor in Japanese naval uniform spoke. "Admiral Fujikawa would like me to inform you that transportation has been arranged. A V-22 is on its way from Devonport, Australia. ATC would like to know where you'll each be heading from there."

Rei and Jack looked at each other. "We're both heading back to Iowa. Thanks for asking," Jack answered.

The sailor nodded. "I'll notify the Admiral. ATC says your flight to Devonport should be arriving on the upper deck in approximately three hours. Also, I've been asked to give you this." He handed Rei a duffel bag with the Hogosha's insignia on the side. "Inside is the uniform you landed in, and all the personal effects we could find on your person and in your plane. I'm afraid we can't return your sidearm, but then, you won't be needing it anyhow."

"Right," Rei said with a nod. Then he added, "Thanks."

"You're welcome. See you in three hours, then." With that, the young man did an about-face and headed back down the hallway.

Rei opened the zipper, staring at the bag's contents. His familiar, pristine FAF flight suit was there, along with his combat boots and gloves. They had even given him back his helmet. Since the foam and composite inner layers had been custom-fitted for his head, Rei supposed that refurbishing it for someone else would have been a waste of time and effort.

_Souvenirs. That's all they are now. Maybe I could sell them to a collector for good money someday._

He looked up, meeting Jack's eyes. "Not much to start a new life with, huh?" Rei said, giving his old friend a pale smile.

"Don't worry about it; I've still got the rest of your stuff at my place."

"How'd you end up with my stuff?"

"You left it to me in your will, remember?"

"Oh. Yeah. I'd forgotten about that. I hope you spent what was left well?"

"What was left was forty dollars in overdraft fees. You really need to learn how to balance a bank account, buddy."

Rei smiled. "What? I can't rely on you to buy me beer and pizza forever?"

"Sorry; I've got other mouths to feed now. Of course, for a few months, until you're ready to move out … well, I'm sure Lynn won't mind too much if we order out once in a while."

Rei chuckled. Then, more seriously, he said, "Thanks, Jack. I appreciate you taking me in like this."

"Hey, I haven't seen you in half a decade. It'll be fun hanging out again. Just like old times, right?" He thumped Rei cheerfully on the back, then rose to go. "Get some sleep," he said. "Those old tilt-rotors aren't exactly the smoothest ride in the ADF."

Rei shook his head. "I can't go back to sleep now," he replied. "Besides, I've got to say goodbye to her. In person, you know?"

Jack nodded. "Sure. I'll come and get you when our ride's ready."

After the hatch closed, Rei sat on his cot for a few more moments. He stared into the duffel bag, at the remnants of his old life.

_Just like old times? Not exactly. But at least we're alive._

_This is how it has to be … isn't it?_

---


	9. Grudge

---

Chapter Nine: Grudge

---

"ATC _Hogosha_, ATC _Hogosha_, this is Long Jump Four, now passing five-zero degrees south latitude. ETA one hour, thirty minutes. Requesting updated projection of fleet location to compute flight path. Over."

"_Roger, Long Jump Four, this is Hogosa ATC. Stand by to receive coordinates."_

On the V-22's computer screen, the map view shifted, showing the aircraft's current location, then a flashing green dot showing where the carrier fleet would be in an hour. A dashed yellow line appeared between the two, illustrating the path the Osprey would take to get there.

Arthur Boothby nodded as he watched the computer chart their course. Like most of the ADF's aging pool of V-22 tilt-rotors, the aircraft he commanded now had been in service since the mid-2000's, first as a transport for United States Marine Corps, then "donated" to the United Nations Air Defense Force once the Morshower Resolution had allowed the UN to maintain a standing military. Unlike the American military, which tended to phase out older aircraft to make room for newer, more expensive designs every two decades or so, the ADF was much more frugal. Thanks to several upgrades to her electronics package and regular refurbishment of her engines, Long Jump Four – also known as _Big Bella_ – was still hail and hearty, an active and functional transport even at the ripe old age of fifty years.

"Long Jump Four to _Hogosha_, coordinates received. Finalizing flight plan to rendevous with you at six-five degrees south latitude, one-five-seven degrees east longitude. Confirm passenger list: two civilians, Rei Fukai and Jack Bukhar."

"_Confirmed, two civilians. We'll have a fuel tanker prepped and ready for you."_

"Roger that. See you in an hour, Hogosha."

"_Roger. _Hogosha_ out."_

With that, the radio went quiet. Art turned to his young copilot, Will Hanson. "How's the flying tonight?" he asked.

"Reasonably good, thanks. Now that we're past the polar front, the air's nice and calm."

"Yeah. Good thing we won't have to get too close to land; the winds over the ice cap can be dangerous."

"Yeah, good thing we're just making a carrier landing. Another quick, easy transport flight, eh?"

"You said it, lad," Art replied. "Easy as they come."

As if brought on by some sort of jinx, the radar screen abruptly filled with static.

Art stared at the display for a moment, then cursed loudly. "Damn it, _Bella_, can't you go one blasted flight without _something_ going on the blink? Is that really so much to ask? Will, check the radar and see what's wrong with it, will ya?"

"Running diagnostic … no faults detected. Must be some kind of external interference. Maybe from the magnetic pole?"

"Nah, we'd have to be right on top of it for the jamming to get this bad, and we're nowhere near that far south. Call up _Hogosha_ and see if they're having the same problem."

"Roger, Cap. _Hogosha_ ATC, this is—"

Without warning, the airmen's headphones began screaming. Instinctively, both men grabbed their heads, yanking the offending gadgets from their throbbing ears. Even the din of _Big Bella_'s turboprops was more bearable than the high-pitched shrieking coming from their communications gear.

"AAAHHHH!! What the bloody hell?" Will cried, still clutching the sides of his head.

SATCOM TRANS DATA

COMMENCING

Art pointed at the screen. "What the hell's it doing?"

BLACK BOX DATA

UPLOADING

In seconds, the computer screen was filled with data – maps indicating Long Jump Four's course and progress, airspeed, weather conditions.

COMM LOG REPLAY

"_This is _Hogosha_ ATC—"_

Art felt his heart leap up into his throat as _Bella_'s computer began to play back their communications. It was as though someone were scanning the communication logs at incredibly high speed; long stretches of dialogue squealed by, merging with the weird, high-frequency wail from the headphones, then slowing to almost normal speed for brief stretches before speeding up again.

"_ETA one hour, thirty minutes."_

"_Six-five degrees south latitude, one-five-seven degrees east longitude."_

"_Two civilians, Rei Fukai—"_

"_Rei Fukai—"_

"_Rei Fukai—"_

As Art and his copilot watched, a window appeared on the interface console.

REQUEST ADF MILNET ACCESS

USER: ***********

PASS:************

_Jesus Christ,_ Art realized, _we're being hacked! They're using our own satcom link to access the military network!_ Then, more calmly, _No way they'll ever get access to the milnet. Every hacker on the planet has been trying to crack that code for decades, and none of them's ever actually done it._

**ACCESS GRANTED**

Right before Arthur Boothby's horrorstruck eyes, the most advanced computer security on Earth gave way, and _Big Bella_'s interface screen filled with dozens of windows, each loaded with classified information. Much of the text looked like Japanese, though from the accompanying images, Arthur could see photos of a massive carrier ship scrolling by, as well as similar pictures of smaller escort ships and aircraft of various types.

A moment later, one window opened in the center of the screen. It looked like a dossier file, with various photos of a tall, pale-skinned Japanese man.

"_Rei Fukai—"_

More images flashed by: grainy photos captured from a night-vision camera. They showed a young man in a white-and-gray flight suit being carried off a sealift helicopter, on what looked an aircraft carrier's flight deck.

"Yukikaze_ says it's an enemy—"_

"_What's … fire control just switched itself on … B-3 …? B-3's calling for backup! All units, fire all missiles! Hand off control to B-3!"_

More images: Technical readouts for a fantastically sleek, streamlined fighter jet, aggressive yet beautiful at the same time. A grainy night-vision shot of that same fighter jet, now battered and torn, being lowered onto a carrier deck by a heavy-lift Chinook helicopter.

"_Hand off control to B-3!"_

"_Rei Fukai—"_

"_B-3—"_

"_Rei Fukai—"_

REI FUKAI/

B-503 YUKIKAZE

DETECTED

65ºS 157ºE

TIME TO TARGET

1 HR 30 MIN

Will stared at the screen in astonishment. "Time to _target_ …?"

"Jesus Christ! They're going after the Antarctic fleet – and we just gave them the coordinates!"

Abruptly, the monitor flickered and went out. The cockpit was silent. Then, in one awful moment, it occurred to Art just _why_ it was so quiet.

"My God! The _engines_—!"

Like an enormous stone, _Big Bella_ dropped from the sky.

Despite the terror pumping through both airmen's veins, they had both trained for catastrophic engine failure. After several attempts to reactivate _Bella_'s turboshafts, and just as many unsuccessful attempts to control her flight path without them, there was only one option available. Art ran for the pilot's side hatch, jerking the emergency release handle as hard as he could. Explosive bolts fired, and the cockpit was filled with roaring, icy Antarctic wind. Bracing themselves against the bitter wind chill, the Australian flight crew bailed out of their intact but powerless Osprey, opening their parachutes as soon as they had put enough distance between themselves and its tumbling bulk.

In the cold and dark, _Big Bella_ dropped out of sight, lost against the black ocean waves. From their height, not even the colossal splash of her impact reached her crew's ears.

Art shivered as frigid Antarctic gusts buffeted him about, the cold penetrating even through his insulated flight suit. Then he hit the water, and realized what cold _really_ meant. _Hypothermia_, he thought. Somehow, the realization wasn't quite as terrible as he might have expected. _Impaired emotional response. Shock. That's not good._

Art tried to find his copilot again, but in the pitch blackness, he knew he wouldn't have seen an iceberg if it were three feet from his nose. He could just barely make out a flashing white light from somewhere to his left: Will's emergency beacon, lighting up his location and transmitting an electronic SOS. With that thought, Art pulled a cord on his own flight suit, activating his own beacon. _They're probably still jamming us,_ he thought sadly. _This has been an awful bloody day._

As it turned out, hypothermia was the least of Arthur Boothby's worries.

Even as his shivers became full-body spasms, he heard the sound of engines.

The sound was like nothing Art had ever heard. He was familiar with helicopters, jets and propeller aircraft. He had heard the sounds of outboard motors and heavy ship turbines. The high-pitched, shuddering wail coming toward them was something completely different. To Art's ears, it sounded harmonic, a shrill noise between a drawn-out bat's squeal and nails on a chalkboard, with a dull roar somehow mixed in. It was a weird, unearthly sound.

Without warning, the water to his left erupted in a series of small geysers. Will's beacon did not flash again.

From someplace deep inside his rapidly-freezing body, a tiny ember of rage flickered. "Y-y-y-you," Art sputtered, "y-you killed Will! You killed Will, you bastards!" With numbed fingers, Art reached for the .45 pistol at his waist.

For Arthur Boothby, the end was almost mercifully swift. Two rows of splashes suddenly appeared, tracking toward him. In a split-second, a crystal projectile roughly 25mm in diameter hit his emergency beacon, shattering its transmitter.

It also blew a hole six inches wide in Art's torso, right where his heart had been.

For a few moments, the corpses of Arthur Boothby and William Hanson floated on the water. Had either still been alive, they might have heard the bone-chilling scream of strange engines approaching. They might have glimpsed a dark, crystal-armored shape swoop by, the sharp tip of its vertical rudder passing just inches above the water, sending up a spray of seawater in its wake. They might even have noticed the radio jamming miraculously cease. No doubt they would have called for rescue, or to warn the carrier fleet of approaching danger.

Within minutes, the Australian airmen and their downed aircraft were gone, deep beneath the frigid waters of the Southern Ocean.

The Antarctic fleet would never know what hit them ….

---


	10. Warning

Update/Edit:

Many thanks to Shoootme for pointing out that a carrier fleet employs AEWAC (Airborne Early Warning And Control, also called AWACS [Airborne Warning And Control Systems]) aircraft, as well as a CAP (Combat Air Patrol), to look over the horizon and prevent the fleet from being ambushed from close range.

Once again, I am indebted to you, the readers, for your encouragement and your editorial help. Thank you!

---

Chapter Ten: Warning

---

Aboard the Hogosha, Rei sat in _Yukikaze_'s pilot seat, knowing that these would be their last moments together. Unconsciously, his hand wandered over her controls, stroking and caressing them. It was as close to a hug as he could give her, at least outside of his own dreams.

"Soon, we won't even be able to meet there," he murmured quietly. "You won't even remember me."

INCORRECT

21% PROBABILITY OF

RESIDUAL DATA REMAINING

Somehow, _Yukikaze_'s estimate rang hollow, as though trying to reassure him with some unlikely hope. "You know, you've been hanging around human beings too long," Rei said with a pale smile. "Now you're grasping at straws."

21% PROBABILITY

IS BETTER THAN 0%

"Well, I hope you're right," Rei sighed. Checking his watch, he noticed that he only had fifteen minutes left before his flight. "I really am going to miss you, _Yukikaze_. And … thank you. I'm only alive because of you."

YOU'RE WELCOME, Lt.

I WISH YOU LUCK

With one last caress of her interface panel, Rei slowly climbed up and out of _Yukikaze_'s cockpit. As he walked away from the ladder, he took one last look at the plane that had, in so many ways, become his other half. At least she looked intact again; the last of her damaged parts had been replaced, her repairs finally complete. It still hurt Rei's heart to see the blank, gray patches where her insignia had been. It made her seem anonymous somehow, like her identity had been erased.

With one final sigh, Rei turned and began heading for the elevator.

_I wonder what's keeping Jack?_

---

Unbeknownst to Rei, what was keeping his friend was the fact that Jack had taken his own advice. With his duffel bag lying on the floor, ready to go, Jack Bukhar was sleeping soundly in his quarters. As of yet, nobody had come to wake him.

The reason for this was currently being debated on the bridge.

"Well? What's keeping the transport?" Admiral Fujikawa snapped. "They called in just an hour ago. Can't you raise them on the radio?"

The young Communications officer shook his head. "I've been trying, Sir, but there's no response. They must be having some trouble with their transmission equipment."

Fujikawa felt a dull throbbing begin at his temples. "ATC? Where are they on the screen?"

"Um … I'm not quite sure, Sir. They're still out of our radar range, but I've been trying to get a GPS fix on their transponder. So far, the satellites haven't picked them up."

"What about emergency beacons? Any unusual transmissions in that area?"

"Nothing, Sir. It's like they just vanished."

The Admiral groaned. _First this cockamamie rescue mission for a fighter plane, then keeping a suspected spy on board, and now a lost transport? This week just keeps getting better. _"And we have no idea where they went?"

"Not exactly, Sir. The last time they checked in, they were following straight on course. Their radio's probably damaged. They've still got fifteen minutes before scheduled ETA; they'll show up. CAP has been informed, and our patrol fighters will keep their eyes open for them."

"All right. Send our AEWAC unit up along its last projected flight path - tell them to keep an eye out for anything unusual. And get two rescue choppers ready, just in case. If we don't see or hear from the Aussies within the next half-hour, send our birds out to help with lower-altitude searching."

"Aye aye, Sir. Attention: Seahawk 1 and 2, prepare for takeoff and stand by. Possible search and rescue mission in thirty minutes. Repeat, Seahawk 1 and 2, prepare for takeoff and stand by."

Had the bridge crew not been so preoccupied searching for a lost transport several hundred miles north of their position, they might have noticed a single blip appear at the opposite corner of the radar screen. No IFF identifier accompanied the white dot; it loitered at the edge of the fleet's radar perimeter for several seconds, then vanished.

No human eye even noticed.

---

At that moment, just as Rei was about to step through the door and leave the hangar bay, a frighteningly familiar sound made his blood run cold. Turning around, Rei beheld _Yukikaze_, her composite skin rippling with glowing red stripes. High-output speakers built into her body let out a weird, buzzing growl.

The maintenance crews all turned to watch her bizarre display. "What the hell is that?" somebody exclaimed.

Rei felt as though his heart were caught in a cold metal vise. "It's a warning pattern! _Move!_" Running back the way he had come just moments before, Rei climbed up into _Yukikaze_'s cockpit. Her alarm chimed frantically, her interface screen flashing with an impossible message.

ALERT

ENEMY DETECTED

JAM TYPE I X 1

PROFILE: AERIAL RECON

***ATTACK IMMINENT***

_What …?_

"Hey! What the hell'd you do?" shouted an MP, rushing up beside the ladder.

"Nothing! It's a warning signal – part of her JAM sensor-jamming system. She's picked up a Type-I flying reconnaissance!"

The military policeman unslung his assault rifle, pointing it up at Rei. "Get out of that plane! Now!"

Rei felt his fear mingle with anger. "Didn't you hear me? They're sizing us up – they're getting ready to attack!"

"Get out of there before I come and get you out!"

Rei couldn't believe what he was hearing. "I just told you that there's a hostile aircraft out there. He's about to tell his friends that there's a big, juicy carrier fleet right here, and you're pointing a gun at _me_?"

"The only threat I see is a has-been space man trying to steal a fighter plane. Now, put your hands up, get out of that cockpit, and come down here!"

Rei felt his teeth clench in a scowl. "We don't have time for this!" he snapped, even as he brought his hands slowly up over his head. Slowly, he descended the ladder and approached the MP, who had kept his rifle pointed straight at Rei's chest the whole time. "Look," he began, "if you'd just go up there and look at her screen—"

Rei never saw it coming. One moment, he was standing in front of the guard, hands above his head, trying to reason with the trigger-happy MP and keep his own temper in check. The next instant, he heard a loud _crack!_ as the man's rifle butt connected with the side of his head. Stars danced in his eyes, and Rei collapsed helplessly to the deck.

The MP ran over to the nearest intercom switch. "Sergeant Tada to the bridge. You were right, Sir; that psycho was just sitting in the cockpit, trying to jump-start his old plane. Damn good thing nobody refueled it."

"_Good work, Sergeant. Take Fukai back to his cell, and make sure he stays there. Looks like our boy will be flying home to Tokyo in cuffs after all."_

"Aye, Sir." Stepping away from the intercom, Tada motioned to the other two MP's who had been keeping watch over Fukai for the last several days. Together, they hoisted the unconscious man up and carried him away, out of the maintenance bay and back toward his dark, windowless quarters.

---

In his dreams, Rei saw _Yukikaze_. From behind, her dragonfly wings folded against her back, she truly looked like some creature straight out of a fairy tale.

Then, in a moment of terrible clarity, he remembered how he had gotten here: _Yukikaze_'s warning, and the sudden attack that had sent him here to this blank white dreamscape.

"_Yukikaze_, what's going on? They told us the Passageway was closed; how could you have sensed the JAM here?"

The pale woman turned to face him, and as he stared into her deep, multi-irised eyes, Rei saw raw terror in their depths.

Without warning, the featureless white "ground" beneath them fractured, like a bone-china tabletop hit by a hammer. Huge swaths of white dropped away, into an ink-black darkness that seemed miles deep.

But the darkness wasn't empty. As the whiteness of Rei's dreamscape shattered, strange black shapes rose from the depths. Purple and green patterns flowed across faceted towers of ebon stone. Somehow, Rei knew that the entire thing pulsed with sentient, malevolent life.

Like a swarm of billions upon billions of angry hornets, shrieking black flyers erupted up out of the mass. Now there was no light except the pale radiance of _Yukikaze_ herself. Rei stared up into a sky darkened by razor-edged wings. Numberless spinning eyes glared at him, shrieking like a chorus of the damned.

Then the white flatness beneath his feet shattered, and Rei was tumbling helplessly into the darkness.

The last thing he saw before waking was _Yukikaze_'s terrified face, staring down after him, her arms reaching out desperately as he plummeted into the abyss.

_The JAM – they're on Earth …!_

---


	11. Night Raid

Update/Edit:

As mentioned in Ch. 10, a few changes have been made for accuracy's sake.

There's also a bit more dialogue in this chapter now, so please re-read, and enjoy watching Jack Bukhar knock a pompous Admiral down a few more pegs.

Thanks again to Shoootme, Rakuengaki, Schumie, MeSapoet, and everyone else who has been reading this story! Enjoy!

---

Chapter Eleven: Night Raid

---

Human emotions were weird, alien things to _Yukikaze_.

According to her data, emotional responses in human beings were triggered by variations in the levels of various chemical compounds in their CPU's. Like so many other aspects of chemical-based thought, dealing with those responses could be difficult – a human might get depressed for no other reason than a slight neurotransmitter imbalance, or because someone forgot to call and wish them a happy birthday. _Yukikaze_'s quantum processor was free from such defects, for which she would forever be grateful to her creators.

Not that the sentient fighter jet had no feelings of her own, _per se_. AI research had long ago recognized that rapid, automatic responses to certain inputs – reflexes, fight-or-flight reactions, and even some emotional responses – were essential survival traits. When designing Combat Intelligences like _Yukikaze_, the FAF's Systems Corps had borrowed heavily from biological analogues, including emotive mechanisms into her core programming. While not as slow, inefficient or uncontrollable as a human's, _Yukikaze_'s digital "feelings" had served her well, allowing her to react quickly and efficiently to virtually any situation.

Something like fear taught her to avoid unnecessary risks; programming based on courage allowed her to accept necessary ones without wasting processor space on doubt. Something like sorrow taught her to avoid failure, and something like joy always accompanied success.

And something like friendship – perhaps even love – always inspired her to protect her pilot.

Right now, though, _Yukikaze_ was running a very different emotional protocol: anger. For nearly fifteen minutes after Rei's arrest, she had continued to flash a bright red warning pattern. When a technician had finally come along, she had let out a loud alarm tone and flashed her warning:

ALERT

ENEMY DETECTED

JAM TYPE I X 1

PROFILE: AERIAL RECON

***ATTACK IMMINENT***

The tech had looked dumbfounded at the message, then run to a nearby intercom speaker – and informed the bridge that she was _malfunctioning_!

As if to add insult to injury, even her fellow machines seemed not to believe her. She had already tried four times to warn the _Hogosha_'s central computer about the impending JAM attack. Each time she attempted to establish a connection to its Combat Control subsystem, the computer simply refused to allow her in.

On one level, the central computer's response was reasonable enough. Not being assigned to any of the military squadrons stationed aboard the supercarrier, _Yukikaze_ was not part of its battle network, and so lacked the requisite permissions to access sensitive parts of the system. If she were an enemy trying to impersonate a friendly AI, this response would have been intelligent and sensible.

But _Yukikaze_ was not an enemy, and the information she was trying to convey to the ship's tactical database was vital for the survival of the _Hogosha_ – not to mention her and all others on board – including Lt. Fukai.

If only it would just _listen_ to her!

Still running what a human might have called "frustration", _Yukikaze_ tried once again to connect to the Combat Control subsystem.

WARNING: UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS DETECTED

ALL ACCESS PRIVELIGES SUSPENDED

ADMINISTRATOR HAS BEEN NOTIFIED

Suddenly, the sentient fighter found herself completely cut off. Not only had she been dismissed again, but now the computer was refusing her access to _any_ part of its system. She couldn't even connect to the civilian Internet through the ship's satellite link!

Had _Yukikaze_ been programmed for profanity, she would have started cursing a blue streak.

Sitting in the carrier's maintenance bay, _Yukikaze_ considered her options. She had to warn somebody, and soon – though she had only detected one enemy contact before, its rapid flight into and out of the Antarctic fleet's airspace suggested a recon mission. No doubt that first scout had already transmitted their location, and an attack would commence soon.

And there was her own condition to consider. Although repairs to her vital systems were (finally!) complete, the maintenance crew hadn't bothered to refuel her. Without even a magazine for her 20mm guns, she was currently useless as a defender.

Having reached this conclusion, _Yukikaze_ decided to rectify the problem.

MODE EW RDY FOR ACTION

Despite the _Hogosha_'s attempts to deny her access, _Yukikaze_ was a long way from helpless. If the computer refused to recognize her as part of its network, then she would simply refuse to recognize its administrative privileges. It was currently preventing her from protecting her pilot and dispatching the enemy – which meant that it was a fair target for her electronic-warfare capabilities.

LINK SCS

Logging on as a different entity and worming through its defenses took only milliseconds. She considered trying to access Combat Control again, but decided that such a vital system would probably have too much protection; if the computer decided to get aggressive, _Yukikaze_ would have to worry about getting back-hacked. Besides, the stupid sub-sentient machine had failed to recognize the threat the first time.

Instead, she located the control software for the _Hogosha_'s machine shop.

REQUESTING LOADOUT AA-3-B

AAM-SR X 3

AAM-MR X 2

MAAM X 2

AMMO 20MM X 2

DISP-VTOL X 4

9700kg FUEL

APPROVED

Within minutes, a small army of industrial robots stampeded across the maintenance bay, much to the surprise of the human tech crew. Some of the automata made their way to a jet fuel tank, while others rolled toward racks of special equipment, missiles and ammunition. As the humans looked on, jaws slack and eyes wide, the teams of mechanical pillagers found what they'd come for, then quickly made their way over to _Yukikaze_.

As her new weapons were installed and her brand-new fuel tank was filled, _Yukikaze_ experienced what a human might have called "pleasure" – like having a delicious meal while simultaneously enjoying the afterglow of a good, strength-enhancing workout. She wasn't really concerned when one of the techs ran over to an intercom and started shouting into it; if her antics put the humans (and their idiotic ship) on high alert, all to the good.

Now, all _Yukikaze_ needed was her pilot ….

---

"It _what_?" Admiral Fujikawa exclaimed, eyes wide with disbelief.

"_It's … I don't know! Somehow it's got all the robots from the machine shop in here, and they're … they're_ arming _it, Sir! Missiles, ammo magazines, fuel … it's like it's getting ready for a combat mission, all by itself!"_

"Well, shut those robots off! And get that goddamn plane locked down and secured."

"_We can't even get near it! The machines won't let us! Requesting assistance, Sir!"_

Fujikawa felt a headache coming on. _First we have to haul the thing on board, and now it's trying to take off by itself. Damn piece of FAF junk …._ "Security to the maintenance deck! Shut down the robots and stop the FAF jet from hacking our system. Shoot out its radio if you have to!"

At that moment, Jack Bukhar walked onto the bridge, escorted by a pair of MP's. "Is there a problem, Admiral?"

"You're damn right there is! Your precious Fairy fighter just decided to launch, and it's stealing our ship's materiel to arm itself!"

"What?" Making his way to the intercom, Jack listened in as a clearly terrified technician described something out of an old _Iron Man_ movie: yellow fabricator robots attaching weapons and VTOL boosters to _Yukikaze_, arming and refueling it without any human control. _Still has a taste for the theatrical,_ he thought, his anxiety mounting. "Has anyone asked it why it's doing this?"

The Chief of the Watch looked at him as though he were a madman. "_Asked_ the plane …?"

"Move over!" Jack commanded, shoving the CW aside and typing rapidly at the terminal. Abruptly, the screen was filled with flashing red letters:

ALERT

ENEMY DETECTED

JAM TYPE I X 1

PROFILE: AERIAL RECON

***ATTACK IMMINENT***

"What the hell?" the Admiral declared. "A JAM? Here? The Passageway has been closed for years! That thing's Combat Intelligence is malfunctioning!"

Jack felt his blood run cold. "Not _this_ CI. Where's your AEWAC unit?"

"Headed north, looking for your ride home. We lost contact with the Osprey sent to transport you and Fukai."

"Hold on: our transport has _disappeared_, and you didn't tell us?"

"Because it isn't your concern," the Admiral shot back, now starting to lose his patience. "This is my ship, and the Southern Ocean is our area of operations. We'll take care of it. I saw no reason to inform you."

"Tell me something. Did it ever occur to you that this missing transport could be a _distraction_? Call back that AEWAC unit, and in the meantime, tell your escorts to broaden their net. Switch radar to HF – they're probably hiding just outside your detection range."

"What? That's ridiculous!"

"Admiral, please!" Jack turned and faced the ship's commander. "_Yukikaze_ is giving us a warning. If the JAM are here, then we're all in danger. Even if it seems ridiculous, even if it turns out to be flat-out wrong, do you really want to take that chance?"

Fujikawa stared hard at the American. Then, turning to his Communications officer, he called out, "Contact the fleet! Spread out and increase radar perimeter for widest possible field. Try OTH settings."

"Yes, Sir." Then, moments later, "Huh! That's strange; there's a blip just south of us. Might be just a civilian sight-seeing plane; they tend to deviate from their scheduled flight plans quite a bit. Probably looking for whales …."

The feeling of dread in Jack's gut only got worse. "Any response on the IFF?"

The young Communications officer looked nervously at the civilian, then spoke to the Admiral. "Well, Sir, they're at the extreme edge of our radio transmission range. Even if we tried a standard interrogation, they might not pick up our signal."

"Contact changing course. Grid bearing five-six degrees, range one-three-zero-nine clicks, speed … Holy Christ! It just accelerated to Mach 2!"

"Supersonic tourists? My ass!" Jack growled. "They know we're onto them. Tell your CAP fighters to intercept that flyer ASAP!"

"New contacts! Three … seven … _fifteen_ contacts, Sir! At least! All inbound at Mach 2-plus!"

"Goddammit!" Jack exclaimed. "Whatever else you've got, get it into the air, _right_ _now!"_

Admiral Fujikawa's face was ashen. "But … but this is impossible! How could it be aliens? How the hell could they have even _gotten_ here …?"

"This is the _JDS Hogosha_, calling ADF-S! We are under attack! Repeat, we are under attack byAAHHHH!!!" The Comms operator suddenly rocked back in his chair, eyes wide, mouth open in an agonized cry as he tore his headset away. Even from ten feet away, Jack could hear the steady, high-pitched shrieking from the headphones.

To his credit, the young man managed to regain some of his composure, turning back to his terminal and tapping keys frantically. "Sir, communications are out! Heavy jamming on all frequencies! Intership, satellite, ATC … it's all gone, Sir!"

On the main screen, the previously calm blue image suddenly swarmed with red triangles. As the _Hogosha_ was cut off from its escorts, the outer sectors of its radar net went black. Moments later, the entire image began to flicker like a television with a broken cathode-ray tube. "ECM! Radar is gone too, Sir!"

"Goddammit! Get our fighters up now!"

"All hands, air raid stations! All hands--"

At that moment, every light and monitor on the ship went dark.

---

In his quarters, Rei Fukai struggled to don his flight suit. His jaw still throbbed from where the MP had struck him. And the dream still lingered in his mind's eye, like an afterimage from staring at the Sun: a sky blackened by JAM, and _Yukikaze_ beckoning him to her.

_I've got a bad feeling about this …._

"_All hands, air raid stations! All hands--"_

At once, the intercom died, and the ceiling light in Rei's quarters went out. Plunged into darkness, Rei instinctively reached for the titanium-alloy Maglite in his right calf zipper-pocket. As he switched it on, Rei felt a shudder pass through the deck. The steady thrum of the ship's engines, a white noise that he had simply stopped noticing after the first day, suddenly slowed, then ceased completely. Somewhere, metal groaned.

_I've got a_ really _bad feeling about this …._

Quickly, Rei finished putting on his flight suit, then rushed out the door – or tried to, before another MP outside stopped him. The light attached to his assault rifle shone in Rei's face. "Hold it!" he shouted. "Get back in there!"

Rei threw his head back and grimaced. _Goddammit, not this again!_ "We're under attack! I need to get to the flight deck!"

"No you do not," the MP replied with a scowl. "You may have shot down aliens, but this is a UN carrier – whatever's going on, _we'll_ handle it."

Rei considered his options. On the one hand, he could try convincing this young hotshot that aliens were about to attack the ship, and that he and _Yukikaze_ were probably their best hope for survival.

Or, he could just go straight to the flight deck.

The MP never saw it coming. In less than a quarter-second, Rei had stepped aside, out of his line of fire, then come around toward his right side. Fingers curled around his titanium flashlight, Rei right-hooked the MP with force that would have cracked his skull, had the military policeman not been wearing a Kevlar helmet. Instead of breaking bones, the strike simply transmitted kinetic force from Rei's fist, through the helmet, and into the soft tissues of the man's head.

The MP fell without a groan, his rifle clattering to the deck.

Shaking his right hand to restore circulation, Rei kneeled down to check the man's pulse – strong and steady. "Sorry about that," he muttered.

The MP, of course, made no reply.

Then Rei grabbed the rifle and ran for the nearest stairwell.

---

"What the hell was _that_?" yelled Fujikawa, as dim red emergency lights flickered on. "Get me Engineering!"

"_Engine room to bridge! Something tripped the reactor fail-safes; we're running on emergency diesel. They were fine a minute ago, Sir – it's like someone just switched our engines off by remote."_

"Sir, I'm locked out of the main computer! It's not recognizing the security overrides … we're being hacked, Sir!"

Fujikawa felt his heart stop beating. _All this, in less than five minutes? How could everything have gone so wrong, so fast …?_

"Shut down the main computer! Pull the damn plug if you have to! And launch those fighters ASAP!"

The Admiral whirled around to face the scruffy-looking civilian who had just dared issue an order on his ship. "Just who do you think you're ordering around?" he barked.

Jack didn't flinch. "With all due respect, Admiral, you looked a little overwhelmed. I was just trying to help."

"You can help by going back down to your quarters! You are a civilian on a UN military ship! I don't know what passed for protocol in the FAF, but on _my_ ship--"

A distant fireball suddenly outshone the emergency lights. All eyes turned to the main window, and for a moment, silence reigned.

"My God! The _Araijin_ …."

"Dammit!" Jack shouted, then turned and glared at the Admiral. "We can stand here and argue about protocol, or you can tell your launch crews to get interceptors in the air!"

"Are you mad? The steam catapults run off waste heat from the ship's reactors. We'd only be able to launch four or five aircraft, at most, before we lost pressure."

"Well it's better than leaving ourselves naked!"

Fujikawa felt his jaw clench. On the one hand, if he ordered his crew to launch fighters now, he would look as though he were taking orders from a civilian. On the other hand, Bukhar was undeniably correct; even if they could only use the catapults four or five times, it would be better than not using them at all.

The Admiral glared at Bukhar, then issued his order. "Launch interceptors, as many as you can! And get our best pilots in them!"

---

_Yukikaze's _relief that someone had gotten her message had been short-lived. As the _Hogosha_'s electronic defenses crashed, she switched her system to standalone mode, breaking all external connections. Just before disabling her wireless receivers, she broadcast an electronic warning, instructing the other fighters to do the same. She had to borrow a low-priority access code she had found in the _Hogosha_'s system; it was a quick and dirty hack, but she had to hope that the other units would close themselves off before the JAM could hack them as well.

All but one of the others complied.

At the opposite end of the maintenance bay, one aircraft began powering up its engines. Before the startled humans around it could react, its 20mm guns opened up, destroying one of its helpless sister units.

ENEMY DETECTED

VTOL ON

With a loud whoosh, _Yukikaze_'s VTOL booster rockets fired, launching her almost up to the roof of the maintenance bay. The hijacked Earth fighter tried to turn and face her, but with no vertical-takeoff capability of its own, it was grounded, helpless as _Yukikaze_ pitched her nose down toward its cockpit.

RDY GUN

In less than a second, the rogue unit was offline, its flight computer smashed by _Yukikaze_'s surgically precise shots. The sentient fighter spared a few milliseconds to mourn her actions; while clearly not as developed as herself, these Earth craft still possessed some measure of combat intelligence. That she had had to destroy one of her own was troubling, though it had ultimately been unavoidable.

As human pilots and flight crew scrambled toward the remaining aircraft, _Yukikaze_ concluded that she had done all she could from the maintenance bay. Now, she needed to ward off the JAM long enough for the Earth fighters to launch and defend the fleet.

Still suspended in midair, _Yukikaze_ made her way to the lowering elevator platform. The traction-coated slab descended, revealing a patch of starless night sky above.

Riding her new rockets, _Yukikaze_ flew toward the opening, then soared off into the night.

---


	12. Launch

Author's Note:

Merry Christmas Eve Day, everyone! Or, as an IM buddy of mine said, Happy Festivus!

That last one is a made-up holiday from an episode of _Seinfeld_, but the name does sound cool.

Anyway, whatever you're doing, I hope you have a great time today, tomorrow, and throughout 2010!

Thanks so much to Rakuengaki, Shoootme, and Schumie for your comments and editorial help! Reviews are always appreciated - although, as you may have noticed, I can't promise that I'll always follow popular opinion. Sometimes I just have to write what feels right ... hey! That rhymes!

Anyhow,

**Happy Holidays!**

Update/Edit:

Just a few little tweaks to this chapter, as well.

---

Chapter Twelve: Launch

---

Jack watched in awe as a familiar streamlined shape took off through the _Hogosha_'s freight elevator shaft. Within moments, an orange cloud of fire appeared in the sky as _Yukikaze_ began engaging the JAM by itself. "It's buying us time! Get those fighters up now!"

"Attention all pilots and launch personnel: we are encountering heavy electronic interference. Close all external data links, and use only intercom and hard lines for communication. Repeat, use only intercom or hard lines – no radio or wireless connections. All fighters, switch missiles to IR homing – do not, repeat, do not attempt radar lock-on."

"_Launch deck to bridge: Ranger Leader is away! Preparing to launch Rangers Two, Three and Four. No sign of High Eye or patrol units."_

Jack felt almost sick. With the JAM waging electronic warfare against the carrier fleet, the _Hogosha_'s fighters were deaf, dumb, and half-blind, depending entirely on their planes' infrared sensors and night-vision systems in lieu of radar. Given that at least one unit had been hacked in the maintenance bay, it was even possible that the fleet's Combat Air Patrol and AEWAC aircraft were out of commission, crashed or destroyed, their pilots unable to call for help through the all-enveloping shroud of radio jamming around the fleet.

The _Hogosha_ herself was in even worse shape than her defenders. With her computer at the mercy of the JAM, her main reactors refused to come back online. There was no way to operate her missiles. Even her infrared sensors were useless with no computer to receive, organize and display incoming data to the bridge crew. Only the ship's intercom was working, along with her three anti-aircraft guns, all now operated by small crews using manual control and night-vision goggles.

_If they hit anything other than our own fighters, I'll be impressed,_ Jack thought grimly to himself.

---

Second Lieutenant Hiroshi Mishiba felt himself shoved back into his seat as the _Hogosha_'s steam catapult hurled him into the air. "Ranger Two to … damn!" he spat, catching himself. Normally, he would have reported his successful launch to the _Hogosha_'s air traffic controller. But with some enemy force blanketing the fleet with electronic interference, radios, radar, and even encrypted data links were useless. In his single-seat fighter, Mishiba flew through the night in eerie silence.

The LCD display embedded in his canopy showed the world outside as a grainy, ghostly green panorama. In the starless Antarctic sky, bright fairy lights seemed to dance: his squadron leader, an unmanned FAF plane that had somehow blasted out of the _Hogosha_'s hangar, and God knew how many alien fighters.

Mishiba had never really believed in the JAM before that night. As far as he knew, the alien attack had been a fluke, some freak wormhole popping open over Antarctica and spewing out aliens. The space monsters had been driven back through it after a few months, and that had been the end of it. Well, almost the end; some idiots had gone back through the wormhole chasing the aliens, and had come back out thirty years later, their outfit in shambles.

_But now_ we're _the ones fighting the space freaks, _Hiroshi thought. _How the hell did they get here? And why did they come back?_

His fighter gave a sharp alarm tone.

WARNING

HEAT SOURCE DETECTED

6 o'CLOCK

Hiroshi craned his neck around – then instantly wished he hadn't. The strange, Y-shaped aircraft behind him seemed to flicker like a mirage. Its black crystal armor looked almost transparent, as though not completely there. In his enhanced night-vision view, a bright white light shone from its center of mass, like a single pupil-less eye, staring unblinkingly at him.

"Whoa!" the pilot cried aloud, banking hard right to try and avoid it. The alien fighter let out a piercing scream, glowing bands of color flashing across its shell as it gave chase. Bright streaks flashed by just inches from his canopy as it fired its twin guns.

Somewhere, a bright flash appeared. Mishiba's squadron leader had been shot down over the water.

WARNING

MISSILE LOCK DETECTED

_Omigod, this can't be happening, this can't be happening, this can't be happening!_ Hiroshi heard the terrified voice yammering in his head. Then he realized that it was his own, and that he was saying the words out loud.

As the pilot tried desperately to evade his pursuer, a brilliant flash filled his vision. Instinctively, Hiroshi squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself for the explosion that would tear his plane and body apart. When he opened his eyes a moment later, he was still looking out that the ghostly green night-vision image projected on his canopy. The JAM fighter behind him had vanished.

_I'm … alive?_

Beside him, another aircraft rose up from beneath him. This fighter was larger than his own: a sleek, streamlined machine with forward-swept wings, of a design he had never seen before. Like the alien craft that had been pursuing him, bright red stripes flowed across its composite skin. As it pulled up alongside him, Hiroshi saw that it was a two-seater aircraft.

Both chairs were empty.

"It's flying itself? What the…?"

Then the fantastic fighter jet climbed up and away from him. Seconds later, Hiroshi felt his plane tremble as a sonic boom sounded from nearby: the pilotless fighter, accelerating at G's that would have made most human pilots black out.

Hiroshi sat frozen in his seat, watching the impossible fighter streak away. Then he glanced down at his display, counting the remaining enemy units. He could have sworn that there had been three more a moment ago.

_Whatever that thing is, _Hiroshi thought as he turned toward the nearest bogey,_ I'm glad it's on _our_ side …._

---

The skies were filled with JAM.

Circling above the_ Hogosha, Yukikaze_ rolled hard left as a crystal-sheathed missile streaked under her right wing. Flying without radar was difficult enough; though she was trying to cover the other fighters as they launched, it was nearly all she could do to keep herself from being destroyed. Somehow, both the JAM and their missiles seemed immune to the interference blanketing the Antarctic fleet. Their tracking was far too accurate for infrared sight or simple light-amplification.

RDY AAM

_Yukikaze_ targeted the heat signature of the Type-II that had just tried to shoot her down. Reconfiguring its secondary wings for high-speed egress, the alien machine streaked away, and a bright flash of infrared light rendered her missile momentarily blind. Unable to acquire a missile lock on her opponent, _Yukikaze_ could only fire a burst of 20mm rounds at the retreating flyer, trying to ward it away from the carrier.

Her emotional protocols were brimming over with frustration. _Yukikaze_ had been designed to engage her enemies, not to babysit blind, defenseless carrier ships! Even the other fighters seemed lost and disoriented, their human pilots fumbling in the dark. Clearly, none of them had ever seen real combat before tonight.

As she banked around, _Yukikaze_ scanned the flight deck with one of her external cameras: still no sign of Lt. Fukai.

GET ON BOARD, Lt.

Suddenly, _Yukikaze_ detected a pair of high-speed heat sources, headed straight for the _Hogosha_ at hypersonic velocity. The objects' thermal signatures were all too familiar: JAM hyper-speed missiles, probably launched from two of the flyers. From her own combat experience, she knew that if even one of them hit the carrier, the ship and every being on board would be vaporized.

Diving down toward the black Antarctic waters, _Yukikaze_ tried to lock onto the leftmost missile with one of her own. Another IR strobe overloaded her missile's targeting sensor, and the sentient fighter realized that she would have to dispatch these weapons herself.

RDY GUN

Flying directly toward the missiles was like playing chicken at fantastic speeds. Between Yukikaze's current airspeed of Mach 2.5, and the missiles' velocity of Mach 5.7, they came toward one another at a combined speed greater than eight times that of sound.

No human pilot would have had a chance.

Fortunately, _Yukikaze_ was not human.

With a quick, well-timed burst of 20mm rounds, _Yukikaze_ veered away as the first device exploded, its micro fusion warhead creating a hundred-foot-high column of steam.

Meanwhile, the second missile continued toward the aircraft carrier, now weaving and juking around to throw off _Yukikaze_'s targeting. Someone manning the ship's guns must have spotted its engine trail, because all three 50mm rotary cannons began tracking in toward the projectile. Unfortunately, by the time the missile was within range of their bullets, it would be close enough to sink the carrier anyway, even if they hit it before it made physical contact.

MODE

RAM-AIR

Engines screaming, Yukikaze pulled in her wings for high-speed flight. Although her maximum airspeed was only Mach 3.3, compared to the missile's hypersonic velocity, she wasn't bothering to perform evasive maneuvers – and now that she was coming at it from behind, the JAM missile's front-mounted infrared strobe wouldn't be able to protect it from her own projectiles.

RDY AAM

When her medium-range air-to-air missile streaked ahead, it was already being boosted by _Yukikaze_'s supersonic speed. The JAM missile tried to evade hers, but its primary programming told it to proceed at maximum thrust toward its target. The directive only allowed it to perform some minimal evasive tactics to avoid being shot down en route. Unable to turn far enough out of its way, the missile could only fishtail from side to side, wasting its speed with frantic but futile maneuvering.

_Yukikaze_'s missile detonated behind the JAM device, triggering the alien warhead just before it could approach within lethal range of the _Hogosha_. Unfortunately, the ship was not completely spared. While not close enough to sink the carrier, a massive fireball washed across the ship's flight deck like a tide of orange flame.

_Yukikaze_ could only watch through her zoom optics as the blast wave hit the helpless flight crew. Sorrow for the humans filled her processor, even though she had done all she could.

At least the ship was still floating. She could only hope her pilot had not made his way to the flight deck yet ….

Thus distracted, _Yukikaze_ almost missed the large, black object coming straight down at her from above. Suddenly aware of its presence, she banked hard right just as the enemy flyer opened up with a pair of projectile guns. The JAM's armor flashed red as its crystal bullets merely chewed up part of _Yukikaze_'s left wing tip, rather than blasting the wing off at its joint.

Even so, the damage to her wing was enough to knock _Yukikaze_ off-course. Still in high-speed mode, she tumbled helplessly through the air. The sentient fighter worked her control surfaces hard, trying to cut her speed and regain control before crashing into the icy black water below.

Apparently convinced that it had dispatched her, the JAM flyer banked away, headed for the _Hogosha_. As it screamed off, _Yukikaze_ tried to get a good look at the craft that had just attacked her. There was something different about this unit….

Then she caught sight of the flight deck.

There was a man standing out there.

A man in an FAF flight suit ….

---

The door to the flight deck opened up on Hell.

Fires raged on the deck. Despite _Yukikaze_'s best efforts, the explosion of the JAM hyper-speed missile had done plenty of damage. Cables from the catapult system lay like dead snakes all over the deck, which was cratered and strewn with debris. Bodies lay scattered about: flight crew, caught helpless and blind during the attack. One anti-aircraft turret was a flaming wreck, and the remaining two guns were spraying bullets into an ink-black sky, desperately trying to fend off enemies that remained invisible to their crews.

Rei had only a moment to take in the awful vista before he felt the backwash. Looking up, he saw … _something_ descending right in front of him.

Most JAM fliers were variations on a flying-wing design, with vertical or slanted surfaces for added yaw control. Wingspan was generally their largest dimension, and so far as Rei knew, none had ever demonstrated VTOL or hover capability.

The bizarre craft suspended above the deck, only meters in front of him, was unlike any Rei had ever seen. It looked as though some mad engineer had tried to mix JAM technology with human aerodynamic science, and the result was a roaring, airborne monster. Its long, flattened fuselage was pointed at the front, wider at the rear, with three vectored-thrust exhaust nozzles in triangular formation. The lowest engine's exhaust seemed capable of rotating ninety degrees downward and serving as one of three VTOL thrusters. The other two VTOL exhausts seemed to be located on the underside of the fuselage, toward the front, between its aggressive forward-swept wings and a trio of forward canards, two slanted slightly above the horizontal, the third pointed straight down. Strangest of all, though, were the twin canopy-like blisters in the middle of the fuselage, one above and one below.

The weird craft flickered, its image distorted by light-scattering stealth technology, giving it an almost ghostly aspect. In the infernal light, the phantom gleamed like razor-edged obsidian, adding its own illumination with flashing red patterns on its armor.

As Rei stared, frozen by a mix of awe and horror, the lowermost "cockpit" became transparent, and Rei found himself staring into an all-too-familiar spinning, color-shifting ellipsoid: the sensor/processor matrix of a JAM flyer.

Time seemed to stretch as Rei and the JAM faced one another. It occurred to Rei that his rifle was useless; he couldn't even try to defend himself as the beast shrieked angrily before him, its guns training on his soft, delicate human form.

Staring into its cold, inhuman gaze, Rei had a terrifying certainty:

_They came for us. The raid … it's because _Yukikaze_ and I are on this ship …._

Not that it mattered now.

Death had arrived.

The first shots tore into the JAM's dorsal surface, armor-crystal shrapnel sent flying. Though caught off-guard, the alien craft's reaction was stunningly swift, yawing hard left and pitching up within a fraction of a second. Rather than flee, it attempted to bring its forward guns to bear on this new threat, which had already closed too tightly for missiles.

It was the last mistake the flyer would ever make. Another salvo of 20mm gatling gunfire ripped into the front of its fuselage, punching through the opaque crystal over its uppermost processor matrix and shattering the delicate spiral structure within. Still spinning rapidly, the fighter's top "brain" flew apart. Jagged shards shredded its twin below, then ripped through the JAM's guts like a fragmentation bomb. The machine exploded on the _Hogosha_'s battle-ravaged flight deck, sending bits of black armor-crystal into the air and knocking Rei backward with concussive force.

As Rei slowly got to his feet, another streamlined form descended from the sky. Riding pillars of fire from its VTOL boosters, it settled quickly onto its wheeled landing gear, its cockpit module sliding back and hinging open.

Even with her decals sanded away by the _Hogosha_ maintenance crew, and her left wing scarred from alien gunfire, she was still the most beautiful thing Rei had ever seen.

On _Yukikaze_'s interface screen, a message flashed:

GET ON BOARD, Lt.

---

A/N:

Just in case anybody was curious:

OTH = Over The Horizon radar, also called HF or High Frequency.

ECM = Electronic CounterMeasures, a fancy way of saying "sensor jamming"

VTOL = Vertical TakeOff and Landing, also used for hovering in place.

---


	13. Flight of the Last Battle Fairy

---

Chapter Thirteen: Flight of the Last Battle Fairy

---

As Rei Fukai settled into _Yukikaze_'s pilot seat, he felt complete for the first time in a long while.

The steady roar of her engines was like a second heartbeat. He felt power humming through every part of her airframe, the vibrations spreading through his own body. As his hand gripped her joystick, he became aware of her wings, tail flaps and canards, along with countless smaller flaps and control surfaces, all responding to his gentle touch.

As he attached his oxygen supply, Rei took a deep, cleansing breath. The taste and smell of _Yukikaze_'s pressurized gas mix flooded into him. Her soft, ergonomic seat cushions embraced him, his frail human body melting into her stronger steel-and-composite one.

And, more importantly, he could feel _Yukikaze_'s mind meshing with his own.

Once, back on Fairy, a naïve young psychologist named Edith Foss had tried to convince Rei that the cool, rational voice in the back of his mind was his own finely-honed combat reflexes taking over.

She had said that the fading of his own personal fears, worries and uncertainties was just his primitive human brain closing down nonessential functions, preparing for an immense, survival-dependent load that would tax its puny resources to their limits.

She had tried to convince him that the crystal clarity with which he now saw the world was simply a product of that half-dead, closed-down mind of his, simplifying the universe so he could more quickly respond to physical danger.

Rei had never believed her.

WELCOME BACK,

Lt. FUKAI

Instead of closing down or becoming numb, Rei felt his consciousness expand outward. He was aware of the universe around him in a way that he could never have imagined before meeting _Yukikaze_.

Through her sensors, he saw in wavelengths that no human eye could perceive. Through Rei, _Yukikaze_ gained a kind of unchained, free-associative intelligence that her programmers would never have dared to give her.

Together, they could sense objects miles away, and knew their speed and direction. They could measure the speed of the wind passing by outside, and could gauge its temperature, yet were immune to the chill Antarctic weather, insulated by airtight canopy glass and composite armor.

And together, they were the most deadly force on Earth.

The JAM knew this. The invaders had sent more than twenty fighters to destroy them tonight, and so far, they had hardly been scratched.

And that had been before they merged ….

Just as Yukikaze's canopy sealed shut, a Type-II dove toward the flight deck, unleashing a pair of air-to-air missiles. Using the last of the propellant in her VTOL boosters, Rei and _Yukikaze_ leaped off the deck and back into the air. The JAM missiles streaked by beneath them at a steep angle, just missing the carrier deck, and disappeared beneath the waves. Seconds later, two columns of steam appeared as the projectiles detonated harmlessly underwater.

RDY GUN

Detaching her spent boosters, _Yukikaze_ turned to face her attacker. As soon as the Type-II entered his sights, Rei squeezed off a burst of anti-aircraft rounds. The shots hit their mark, smashing through the transparent crystal over the JAM's processor matrix and sending it spinning, out of control, into the icy sea.

---

Jack felt the _Hogosha_ rock as the Type-II self-destructed off her port bow. Watching through the front windows, he watched the glow of _Yukikaze_'s jet exhausts brighten from blue to white as it accelerated away, climbing into the sky, carrying his friend in its pilot seat.

_I guess you were right, Rei. You just can't cheat fate. And to fly with _Yukikaze_, for however long you live … well, that's always been your fate, hasn't it?_

_I know you certainly wouldn't complain._

---

Even without radar, _Yukikaze_'s infrared sensors and light-amplifying optics were still fully functional, rendering the world outside her canopy in dark greens, blacks and whites. As they flew, she did her best to update Rei on the situation.

ENEMY SQ

TYPE I X 12, -3=9

TYPE II X 6, -2=4

TYPE III X 1

TYPE V X 3, -1=2

"A Type-_III_?"

A window appeared on her screen, showing a wire frame model of a JAM flyer. It looked like two Type-Is joined at their wing tips, with a round radar and communications antenna mounted on top like an Earth AEWAC aircraft.

"One of the electronic-warfare units we saw on Fairy. That must be what's interfering with our systems. Type-IVs would be the smaller units around the Passageway that used themselves as missiles – guess nobody invited them to this party. But what are these Type-Vs?"

The Type-III wire frame was replaced by another. Rei recognized it as the new, streamlined JAM flyer that had damaged _Yukikaze_'s wing tip and tried to kill him on the flight deck. Looking at the Type-V this way, it appeared to Rei like a triple-engine, steroid-fed version of _Yukikaze_, with VTOL capability built into it rather than supplied by boosters. No doubt it needed the extra power to match her speed and maneuverability, especially with two large processor cores housed within its fuselage. Instead of _Yukikaze_'s variable-slant wings, the Type-V's forward-swept wings seemed designed to hinge even further forward. At maximum thrust, with its wings fully tucked in, it probably had a higher maximum speed, though at the price of decreased maneuverability.

_They created it to kill us. And there are still two of them out there …._

As Rei considered this, _Yukikaze_'s screen switched to an overhead map view, lighting up the nearest enemy units in red. Rei could feel her eagerness, her programmed desire to obliterate the nearest threat, as quickly as possible.

"No," Rei said firmly. "We have to take out that Type-III first. Until we do, the fleet will be helpless, and we won't be able to communicate."

ROGER, Lt.

The map view widened to show a larger area. About one hundred miles away, beyond the furthest escort ship's visual range, _Yukikaze_ showed a formation of JAM: six smaller heat sources circling a much larger one.

JAM TYPE III X 1

JAM TYPE I X 3

JAM TYPE II X 2

JAM TYPE V X 1

DETECTED

"Got it. Switch to high-speed mode."

MODE

RAM-AIR

Her JAM sensor-baffling system flashing scarlet, _Yukikaze_ blasted off toward the enemy formation. The sudden acceleration would have made most human beings black out. In fact, more than one of Rei's past copilots had done so, unable to handle the speed of _Yukikaze_'s maneuvers, or her rapid changes of direction.

Rei Fukai, however, was not an average human being. Partly through some fortuitous genetic accident, and mostly through intense cardiovascular training and combat exercises, Rei's heart was significantly larger and stronger than that of most human males. Unlike the people who had sometimes ridden behind him – including a certain nay-saying base physician – Rei was physically and mentally capable of functioning at extreme g-forces. His strong heart and biofeedback techniques had served him well as a test pilot in the Special Air Force. It was the reason why he would never smoke, nor would he ever take drugs that could raise his blood pressure.

It also made him one of the few human beings who could "keep up" with _Yukikaze_ when she flew at maximum acceleration.

At over three times the speed of sound, they crossed the hundred-mile distance in roughly three minutes. As they approached, _Yukikaze_ decelerated and spread her wings for greater maneuverability. Now within visual range, Rei could make out the six escort units, orbiting the Type-III like electrons around a nucleus. The electronic-warfare unit was easily twice as large as any of the other flyers, dark gray patterns rippling across its black armor. In his mind's eye, Rei could practically see the waves of electromagnetic radiation blasting from its antenna dish like a demonic aura, blinding _Yukikaze_'s radar and cutting off long-range communication for hundreds of miles around. Unless they destroyed it, the blind and crippled Antarctic fleet would be wiped out. Nobody would ever know why they had vanished, or even realize that the JAM were on Earth.

_Like that's gonna happen,_ Rei thought. _Not while we're still alive._

At their approach, the escorts seemed to panic. Breaking away from the Type-III, they clearly realized that _Yukikaze_ was more than a match for any of them. All six flew in different directions, the bulky Type-III banking away in a slow, obviously futile effort to evade.

Rei was sorely temped to attack the electronic-warfare flyer. _Yukikaze_ clearly had the same idea, lighting up the Type-III with her laser designator.

RDY AAM

Then a thought occurred to Rei: _JAM? Afraid? They're machines – they won't abandon an objective unless it becomes impossible to fulfill. Why would six escorts disobey their directive to protect a principal?_

Toggling the view on _Yukikaze_'s screen, Rei examined the "random""evasive" flight paths of the "fleeing" escorts – and discovered a carefully laid trap. All six were following wide arcs that would carry them back in toward the Type-III from different angles. Any fighter trying to fly in and attack the principal would find itself surrounded from above, below, and every side, facing all seven JAM at once.

"New fighters? New tactics? Somebody's been busy while we were gone," Rei said aloud, alerting _Yukikaze_ to the trap. "Target the escorts, not the principal. Let's see if we can _really_ send them running."

RDY MAAM

Red boxes lit up around all six escort units. Both of _Yukikaze_'s Multiple Anti-Aircraft Missile pods detached, splitting into eight small, highly-maneuverable missiles. Now aware that their ruse had been detected, the escorts scrambled to avoid being hit. Rei sighed with satisfaction as globes of fire appeared in the air around them. One by one, the escorts went down. Even the Type-V had to perform extreme aerobatics to try and shake the pair of missiles on its tail.

As the eighth missile streaked toward the Type-III, however, the larger unit performed a sharp right turn that belied its awkward size and configuration. Opening up with four heavy anti-aircraft guns, it obliterated the short-range missile from a safe distance.

"So, that was another trick. That thing may be designed for electronic warfare, but it's no slouch at defense or maneuvering, either. Watch those guns, _Yukikaze_."

WARNING

DANGER BELOW

Momentarily taking control from her pilot, _Yukikaze_ yawed hard left as the Type-V flew straight up from beneath them, guns blazing. Apparently, the hyper-maneuverable new JAM had managed to shake the two missiles that had been tailing it just seconds earlier. Shrieking like an enraged beast, jagged crimson stripes flashing across its shell, the Type-V reoriented itself and accelerated after _Yukikaze_, launching a pair of its own missiles and blasting away with its guns.

As Rei and _Yukikaze_ struggled to evade the hail of bullets and missiles flying their way, Rei caught a glimpse of the Type-III. The twin-bodied flyer was banking sharply away with speed that belied its earlier torpid movements. Blue patterns rippled across its surface, and Rei could almost hear the thing laughing at them, watching from afar as its remaining escort chased after them like a rabid pit bull.

_Like hell! We're not finished yet!_ "_Yukikaze_, take over maneuvering control! Close down all nonessential operations! I'll handle weapons."

ROGER, Lt.

I HAVE CONTROL

Without warning, _Yukikaze_ flipped over backward, upside down, her nose pointed straight at the Type-V that had just been behind them. Rei felt his time-sense dilate as the black-armored fighter drifted straight into his sights. Squeezing the trigger, he unleashed a burst of anti-aircraft fire at their pursuer. Suddenly finding itself in the crosshairs, the Type-V pitched down hard, bullets shattering the crystal armor over its left engine as it dived toward the black waters below.

"Got him!" Rei cried aloud, as _Yukikaze_ righted herself and accelerated straight at the fleeing Type-III. The big JAM's armor flashed a terrified white, all four of its engines screaming at maximum thrust as it tried to escape.

Then two streams of red-hot crystal streaked past _Yukikaze_'s canopy: the Type-V was back on their tail, wounded but very much alive.

With the reappearance of its escort, the Type-III seemed to take courage, spinning around on its yaw axis and opening up with all four of its guns.

In that endless, adrenalized moment, Rei felt time slow to a crawl. He and _Yukikaze_ were caught in a crossfire between the quad guns of the Type-III ahead of them and the dual guns of the Type-V behind. The sky outside the cockpit spun and jerked wildly as _Yukikaze_ maneuvered to avoid getting blown apart. Precise, coordinated movements of dozens of control surfaces allowed her to make both minute and radical changes in direction, twisting and weaving in seemingly impossible directions.

With her quantum processor operating at maximum capacity, fire control on manual and her hardware fully dedicated to maneuvering control, _Yukikaze_ could literally dodge bullets.

As the sentient fighter worked to evade JAM projectiles, Rei kept his eyes fixed on the Type-III, growing steadily larger in front of him. With _Yukikaze_ focusing on maneuvering, it was up to her pilot to pick the right moment to fire. Finger on the trigger, Rei switched fire control from the "GUN" setting to "1" – one of Yukikaze's remaining air-to-air missiles. He watched as the IR lock indicator flickered, the light and tone growing more steady as they closed in on the Type-III.

_Almost … just about … there!_ "Jam _this!"_ Rei cried, squeezing the trigger just as the IR lock lit up. With a slight shudder, he felt the short-range air-to-air missile detach from its hardpoint, its rocket motor flaring to life. Her objective achieved, _Yukikaze_ rolled and climbed away at high speed, her starboard canard breaking away as two rounds from the Type-V connected.

As if in desperation, the Type-III tried to switch targets. All four guns tracked in toward the much smaller missile, IR strobe flashing at full power, but it was already too late. The impact-fused AAM-SR slammed straight into the flyer's center of mass, at the junction between its twin fuselages and the radar/comms antenna mounted above. The alien machine blew apart in a shower of crystal shards, all four engines flaming out and exploding.

Broken away from the rest of the flyer, the Type-III's circular antenna seemed to hover in midair, spinning slowly as the flickering white patterns on its armor died. Then it too shattered, jagged fragments raining down like pieces of a broken china plate.

---

Aboard the _JDS Hogosha_, the lights came on again.

"Sir, comms are back up!"

"Radar operational! Now reading ten enemy units, two of our fighters and the FAF unit."

"_Bridge, this is Engineering! Main reactors are back online! Seventy percent power and climbing!"_

"_ATC, this is Ranger Two! Comms and radar are clear, but we're getting clobbered up here! Requesting additional support!"_

"_This is Ranger Four, back on the air! Yee-haw!!!"_

"About damn time!" shouted Fujikawa. "Comm, what's the status of the fleet?"

"Escorts have taken heavy damage, Sir. _Kousen_ reports multiple hull breaches, _Kanshisha_ reports damage to main guns and radar assemblies, _Kashu_ has suffered an explosion in main ammunition storage. No response from _Araijin_. All but two of our fighters have been shot down. Remaining bogeys all seem to be moving away from us. They're going after the FAF unit and fighters – we have clear skies for launch, Sir."

Jack heard the last report with alarm. _They're _all _going after Rei now …?_ "Admiral, even with _Yukikaze_ up there, three fighters can't take on all those JAM by themselves! Whatever you've got left, send it up now!"

"Admiral, flight deck has been cleared, but all four catapults were damaged during the raid. They're inoperable, Sir."

"Can we launch VTOL's?"

"Yes, Sir! All VTOL and STOVL craft, prepare to launch! Tiger and Viper squadrons, launch immediately! Repeat, Tiger and Viper squadrons, launch immediately!"

"This is the _JDS Hogosha _of the UN Antarctic carrier fleet, broadcasting on all frequencies! We are under attack by Jet-powered Airborne Mechanoids at six-five degrees south latitude, one-five-seven degrees east longitude! Repeat, we are under attack by JAM fighters at six-five south, one-five-seven east! Requesting immediate assistance!"

"All right, everyone!" the Admiral declared. "They may have knocked us down and kicked us hard, but we're back up now! I want these freaks to know that they picked a fight with the wrong ship!"

---


	14. By a Hairsbreadth

---

Chapter Fourteen: By a Hairsbreadth

---

While the _Hogosha_ struggled to get its remaining defenders into the air, Rei Fukai found himself flying through a hurricane of bullets. The wounded Type-V was still clinging to _Yukikaze_'s six o'clock as though tethered to it, spraying armor-piercing projectiles at them.

"_FAF unit, this is Ranger Two! You've got a bogey right on your six! Break away!"_

"What do you think we're trying to do?" Rei shot back. "B-3, _Yukikaze_, requesting assistance!"

"_Copy that! This is Ranger Four, I'm on my – Dammit, scratch that! Two bogeys on my tail! Gotta shake 'em off before I can get to you, B-3!"_

"Damn!" Rei snarled, rolling hard right as the Type-V let loose another flurry of crystal bullets. The plane jolted as at least one connected with _Yukikaze_'s left tail fin.

WARNING

MANEUVERABILITY 86%

"Come on!" Rei shouted. Although _Yukikaze_ still had full maneuvering control, she was aware as Rei shoved her joystick down. Taking the hint, she dropped into a sharp, high-speed dive. The Type-V followed, its forward-swept wings swinging inward, giving it a narrower delta-shape as it roared down after them. Rei recognized the fierce violet pattern flashing on the JAM's cracked armor. _Suicide run – it's using itself as a missile! Can't let it get too close…._

As the jet-black water rushed up to meet them, and the JAM closed in from behind, Rei's eyes fixed on the altimeter. _100 meters … 80 … 50 … now!_ "Pull up!" he cried, yanking back hard on the stick. In response, _Yukikaze's_ variable-slant wings tilted back, acting as airbrakes while pitching her nose up. The Earth fighter pulled out at the last possible moment, seawater spraying out from beneath her.

The Type-V wasn't so lucky. With its wings tucked in and engines screaming at maximum thrust, the JAM hit freezing ocean waves at supersonic velocity. At such speeds, the force of impact shattered its armored crystalline airframe like a dinner glass hitting concrete. A bright orange fireball erupted over the water, spewing propellant, steam and shrapnel into the air just a few meters behind _Yukikaze_'s tail.

YOU HAVE CONTROL, Lt.

Rei took a deep breath, his heart still hammering in his chest. "Bogey dispatched! Returning to support Rangers."

"_This is _Hogosha_ to B-3! Rei, can you hear me?"_

"Jack? When did you come out of retirement?"

"_Five minutes ago, when they realized that you and I are the only ones who actually know how to fight JAM. Listen, Rei, there are nine of them left, and they're all after you and the other two fighters."_

"No, Jack, they're after me and _Yukikaze_. I'm gonna go back and draw them away from the other fighters, then lead them away from the fleet. You've got to warn the UN, Jack: the JAM aren't using a Passageway anymore. They're right here on Earth!"

"_No kamikaze heroics today, Rei. _Hogosha_ is launching two squadrons of fighter-bombers. If you and the other two ADF fighters can lead the JAM back this way, within missile range of the STOVL's, then we'll handle them. Can you do that?"_

Rei checked _Yukikaze_'s status. "Some of our control surfaces are damaged. We may not be able to outmaneuver them for long. We're gonna have to come straight toward the carrier. Can you take them all out at once if we draw them in?"

"_Flight control says so. Just lead 'em to us, and don't get yourself killed. Got that?"_

"Roger. Make sure you roll out the welcome mat for us."

"_Copy that. Just like old times, huh?"_

"Old times? I've only been out of action five days, remember?"

"_Heh, right. You're gonna have to teach me that time warp trick; it'd save me a lot of aggravation on long commutes."_

"Only if you want to arrive five years late for your appointment …."

_Yukikaze_ sounded an alert tone:

WARNING

TYPE II X 2

APPROACHING

"All right. Jack, I've got two of them closing in; I'll bring them right to you. Rangers, are you still out there?"

"_Ranger Two, that's affirmative."_

"_Ranger Four, still breathin'. You got any bright ideas, Fairy boy?"_

"_Hogosha_'s sending up some STOVL's. Get the JAM to follow you, then lead them toward the carrier."

"_This is Ranger Two. Say again? You want us to act as _bait_?"_

"_Heh heh! These alien bastards won't know what hit 'em! Count me in, B-3!"_

"All right." Rei glanced at the HUD, which showed the two Type-IIs converging on him. "Catch me if you can," he muttered, then shoved the throttle control forward as far as it would go.

MODE

RAM-AIR

Pulling in her wings, _Yukikaze_ reconfigured herself once more for high-speed flight, wings pivoting back from forward-swept to backward-swept configuration. Behind her, the pair of Type-IIs shifted their secondary wings into extensions of the primary one, reducing aerodynamic drag as they gave chase.

WARNING

MISSILE LOCK DETECTED

_Oh no you don't_, Rei thought. Hitting a button on _Yukikaze_'s console, he released one of the two countermeasure packages at the rear of her fuselage. Chaff and flares filled the air in their wake, throwing off the JAM missiles' targeting. _Just a few more minutes …._

"_Ranger Four to _Hogosha_! Guess who's comin' to dinner …!"_

"_This is Ranger Two, I have two bogeys on my tail. Executing evasive maneuvers."_

"_This is _Hogosha_, we copy that. Reel 'em in, boys!"_

As the chaff dispenser emptied itself, Rei's indicator light began flickering as the JAM tried to lock back onto _Yukikaze_. Rather than using up the last of her countermeasures, Rei rolled hard right, evading their pursuers. The alien fighters followed behind him, riding _Yukikaze_'s slipstream…

…Straight into the path of the _JDS Kashu_'s anti-aircraft guns. In typical machine fashion, the pilotless fighters had become fixated on their target. They had completely ignored their proximity to the UN escort ships. Having already dealt serious damage to them earlier, the JAM no longer considered them a threat.

Now, with their sensors and targeting computers back online, the UN ships were ready to strike back. Bloodied but far from beaten, the still-burning _Kashu_ let loose against its attackers. 50mm rotary cannons blazed away, shredding the nearest Type-II while its wingman tried to climb up and out of range.

RDY AAM

Still trying to evade the _Kashu_'s guns, the JAM was caught by surprise as _Yukikaze_ launched a medium-range air-to-air missile at it. As if computing the futility of its actions, the machine seemed to cease its evasive maneuvering. A split-second later, _Yukikaze_'s missile and the _Kashu_'s AA fire converged upon it, blasting the Type-II into oblivion.

"_This is Ranger Four, the bogeys on my tail just broke off. Looks like they're givin' up!"_

"_This is Ranger Two, same here."_ Then, a moment later: _"Oh, _crap!_ B-3, look out! They're not giving up – they're all coming after _you!"

Rei tried to remember how many were left. _Six Type-Is and another Type-V? The Type-Is we could handle, but these new fighters…_ "B-3 to Hogosha, we've got seven units on our tail. We're bringing them straight toward you. Get those fighters ready!"

"_All right, Rei. Be careful!"_

_This is gonna be close,_ Rei thought, gritting his teeth as he pushed _Yukikaze_'s engines to their limit. Dropping down to just ten feet above the water, the screaming fighter used ground-effect to keep herself aloft, pulling in their wings as much as possible to reduce drag.

On the screen, Rei watched the remaining JAM closing in behind them. The Type-Is formed up into a spread-out delta formation, while the Type-V stayed back at the rear. The new dual-processor flyer apparently planned to use the less-intelligent ones to soften up its prey.

_Not enough missiles to take them all down. It's all up to the ADF now._ All Rei and _Yukikaze_ could do was continue forward, as the _Hogosha_ grew rapidly in front of them.

WARNING

MULTIPLE MISSILE LOCKS

DETECTED

"_Tiger Leader, I've got a lock!"_

"_Viper Leader, locked on target!"_

"_Tiger Four, fox two!"_

"_Viper Three, fox two!"_

A barrage of missiles streaked overhead, heading back the direction _Yukikaze_ had just come from. Suddenly facing two squadrons of Earth fighter-bombers, the Type-Is scattered, their top priority switching from pursuit to evasion. As _Yukikaze_ spread her wings and rose back into the air, Rei watched her radar screen with relief. One by one, red triangles winked out of existence. The JAM were being picked off by medium-range missiles.

All except the Type-V.

Coming about, _Yukikaze_ turned to face the last JAM flyer. Stripped of its escorts, the alien craft flashed a bright crimson pattern. Rei interpreted it as a hateful scowl, directed at them. The JAM seemed to pause in midair, weighing its options while floating on its VTOL exhaust.

_Yukikaze_ did not pause. Plane and pilot acted in unison: flashing their own scarlet pattern, roaring with engines and audio speakers, the composite life-form launched itself at its last opponent, arming its remaining missiles and locking them all onto the Type-V. Behind it, the Earth aircraft did the same, laser designators lighting up the forward half of the JAM with nearly a dozen green pinpricks.

Before _Yukikaze_ had a chance to fire, the JAM's armor went completely black. With a sudden _whoosh_, the alien fighter vanished, icy Antarctic air rushing in to fill the space it had just occupied.

"_This is Tiger Two. Did anyone else just see that?"_

"_Viper Five to Tiger Two, copy that. The damn thing just disappeared!"_

Rei glanced down at Yukikaze's radar screen. A single red triangle was there: sixty miles away, fleeing the area at above Mach 4. Then the blip vanished again, completely out of range this time. "Short-range teleportation," he said on the ADF frequency. "It's leapfrogging away from us."

"_Teleportation? You gotta be kidding me."_

"I'm not. B-3 to _Hogosha_, can you track it?"

"_That's a negative, B-3. The time between jumps must be too short for our long-range radar to register it."_

"_Damn coward! He just cut and ran!"_

Rei sighed, his heartbeat gradually slowing now that the danger had passed. "All right. This is B-3; bogey last spotted headed northwest, grid bearing two-eight-four degrees at Mach 4-plus." _It's running. That means it has somewhere to run home to_, Rei decided. _Otherwise, it would have just made a suicide attack or self-destructed._

LOW FUEL

"Jack, we're going to need to land in a minute."

"_Roger that, B-3. You're clear to land. Rangers, how are you two doing out there?"_

"_Pretty low on gas ourselves, but we can wait. Hell, that guy deserves a medal for taking on all those JAM things! He must've downed at least fifteen of them by himself!"_

"_No kidding. For a second … never mind. I must have been seeing things. I didn't even know there was anyone in that plane when it took off."_

Rei felt a little smile forming. _Nobody but the most advanced CI on Earth_, he thought to himself. _But then she came back to pick me up._ "This is B-3 to _Hogosha_, we're on approach. Stand by to receive us."

"Deck crew standing by. Come on home, Rei."

As _Yukikaze_ made her approach back toward the carrier, Rei recalled some very similar words she had "spoken" to him, just a few hours earlier. Of course, the verb had been "go", not "come".

Rei glanced toward _Yukikaze_'s cockpit camera. The violet lens gave a soft electric whir, meeting his gaze.

_As long as I'm with you,_ Rei thought,_ I _am_ home._

---

Technology/Military Jargon:

STOVL = Short TakeOff Vertical Landing. Ideal for short runways – like a carrier without a working steam catapult.

Ship names:

_Kousen_ = Guardian

_Kanshisha_ = Battle

_Kashu_ = Singer

_Araijin_ = arai + jin = "wild" + "man"

(all from the English-to-Japanese translator at freedict[dot]com – any corrections would be appreciated, if needed)

By the way,

_Yukikaze_ = yuki + kaze = Snow + Wind

---


	15. Home Front

---

Chapter Fifteen: Home Front

---

"Do you ever get tired of being right?"

The woman in the deck chair leaned back with a sigh. "Well, I was certainly wrong about Fukai. It seemed so obvious that he must have been a JAM replicant. After the events of last night, though, my earlier conclusion seems foolish. Even a machine army wouldn't waste so many units, or reveal their presence so blatantly, just to ingratiate one of its spies with us."

Heinrich Linneberg sighed in sympathy. Not too long ago, he himself had been responsible for intelligence gathering and planning in the Fairy Air Force. _One bad guess, and everything falls apart – a battle, the campaign, your career._

Thanks to Col. Ansel Rombert's betrayal – and his own complicity in allowing the rogue Intelligence officer to lead a mutiny of JAM replicants – Linneberg had found himself brought up on charges. Gross dereliction of duty, conspiracy, and high treason were only the most serious ones among them. For the first few weeks after the FAF's return from Fairy, Linneberg had been sure he would spend the rest of his life in military prison.

General Gibril Laitume, the man most directly responsible for giving Rombert his own unit, had committed suicide while awaiting his own trial. More than once, Heinrich had considered doing the same.

Then, of all people, Rydia Cooley had come to Linneberg's rescue.

At first, Heinrich couldn't understand why. Unlike most of the FAF's top officials, who had met with professional disgrace and personal failure, Rydia had somehow ridden out the maelstrom. She had played up the fact that it had been she who had seen through Rombert's ruse, and she who had ordered the evacuation of all the bases on Fairy – making her the only reason that anyone had survived that fiasco. She had even managed a promotion, attaining the rank of General in the UN Air Defense Force.

Somehow, Cooley had pinned full responsibility for the Fairy disaster on Laitume, who of course was in no position to contradict her. Heinrich had found himself absolved of all charges. Within days, a black sedan had arrived, bearing an agent of the American Central Intelligence Agency – and an offer for Heinrich to serve as the CIA's new expert on JAM tactics and technology.

Then, a few months later, the "requests" had begun.

There had been no threatening involved; General Rydia Cooley had simply sent him a sealed letter, with a request for any information the Americans had gathered on the JAM threat. As a head analyst in that department, the data was all easily accessible to him. And as a former Intelligence chief, Heinrich knew exactly how to pass it on discreetly.

It was then that Heinrich Linneberg had realized the price of his freedom. He was General Cooley's direct tap into the most powerful intelligence agency on Earth.

Now, nearly four years later, he stood on Rydia's back porch, watching butterflies dancing through her flower garden, briefcase in hand.

Rydia gestured to the seat opposite her own, where a glass of iced tea sat waiting. "So, what did your analysts have to say?"

Heinrich made his way to the table, under the shade of a wide canvas umbrella. "They reached the same conclusion you did: the raid on the Antarctic fleet was meant to eliminate Lieutenant Rei Fukai and his aircraft, to prevent their intelligence from being used against the JAM on Earth. The attack's timing, only five days after the Lieutenant's reappearance, couldn't have been a coincidence. If Fukai hadn't managed to destroy their electronic-warfare unit, the entire fleet would have disappeared without a trace, and nobody would have suspected the JAM's involvement."

"You didn't tell them that that had been my conclusion?"

"No, they arrived at it independently."

Rydia closed her eyes, sipping her tea. "And the presence of the JAM in that area? Could they have been transported there the same way Fukai was?"

"Not likely. The leading theory is that Fukai and the _Yukikaze_ were trapped in some sort of spacetime bubble when the Passageway collapsed. From their perspective, these last five years have simply passed them by. Not even the plane's atomic clock showed any missing time, or any evidence of tampering."

To illustrate, Heinrich opened his briefcase, presenting a copy of the CIA's final report, along with several stills taken from _Yukikaze_'s optical sensors. "The footage you sent us, however, indicates that the JAM that attacked the Antarctic fleet employed superior small-group tactics to those seen on Fairy. It also shows at least one new JAM fighter design, apparently created for enhanced speed and maneuverability within the Earth's atmosphere. Neither was observed on Fairy, which indicates that this group of JAM has had time to significantly alter their strategy and update their technology."

"All right. So, if they weren't transported here in the same way as Lt. Fukai, then where did those flyers come from?"

Heinrich sighed. "Our satellites have been scouring the planet, but so far, we haven't been able to detect any large spatial distortions like the Passageway. That being the case, there are only two viable possibilities. Either the JAM have some other, less detectable means of interstellar travel that we aren't familiar with, or …"

"Or they already had a presence on Earth when the Passageway was sealed," Rydia finished for him.

"Correct," Heinrich said with a nod. "The new fighter design, in particular, seems to indicate that they've had opportunities to experiment with our planet's thinner atmosphere. The disappearance of the Osprey sent to transport Fukai also matches the profile of several other incidents within the last few years. We're trying to determine where their base of operations might be."

The General set her glass down. "Keep at it. If you're right, then they've managed to conceal their presence on Earth for at least half a decade. We can't allow them to entrench themselves any further on our home soil."

Heinrich began putting his papers away. "You realize that the American and Japanese governments have classified the Antarctic incident above top-secret. They want it kept quiet, and they'll pressure the other members of the Security Council to do the same. With the War on Terror back in full swing and the sub-Saharan crisis to worry about, they don't want to commit to an anti-JAM campaign as well."

"I'm afraid this raid was only the beginning," Cooley said gravely. "Thanks to Lieutenant Fukai, the Antarctic fleet survived it. We know the JAM are here now – but they also know that they've exposed themselves. It's possible that they may decide to strike against us, before we have time to root them out. With their weapons, stealth and infiltration capabilities, I'm afraid their next attack could make September 11 and the Tokyo bombing look like grade-school pranks. It won't be an isolated incident; it will be the start of their invasion."

"You really think it will come to that?" Heinrich asked, eyebrows raised skeptically. "If they wanted to destroy us, why didn't they do it before, when they could send reinforcements directly from their homeworld?"

General Cooley frowned, deep in thought. "I think Rombert was right," she said at last. "I think the JAM on Fairy wanted to study us first. They were curious; they wanted to understand all they could about our species. But now that we're beginning to understand _them_, we've become a threat. If they want our planet's resources, they'll have to begin their invasion before we're strong enough to repel them."

Linneberg felt a cold knot forming in his stomach. "And just how do you plan on dealing with them?"

The General leaned back in her deck chair, steepling her fingers as she considered the problem. "If you're right, and I can't get the Security Council's full support, then I'll just have to start small. A special task force dedicated to finding and eliminating the threat should help flush the JAM out. With enough experienced fighters, support personnel and resources, they might even have a chance of surviving the first battles of this war.

"I can only hope that the raid on the Antarctic fleet has forced the JAM's hand early; that they aren't yet at full strength. Otherwise, I'm afraid that we have a long, hard struggle ahead of us."

Linneberg considered this. "I assume, then, that you want Lieutenant Fukai and his aircraft for this new 'special task force' of yours?"

"Precisely. And as many FAF and SAF veterans as we can bring in. With enough pay and benefits, I'm confident we'll get plenty of volunteers. I've dealt with these ADF people; the only combat most of them have seen is guarding food shipments in Somalia, or looking for insurgents in Iran. They have no idea how to deal with an enemy like the JAM."

"I think we can both agree on that," Heinrich said. "Is there anything you want me to do?"

"For now," Cooley replied, "just make sure your Agency friends don't try to get their hands on Fukai or his aircraft. We'll need him in the cockpit, not an interrogation cell, and we'll need _Yukikaze_ kept fully operational." The General's eyes narrowed, and Linneberg winced as he remembered his own plan from five years ago – to extract all of _Yukikaze's_ combat data on the JAM, effectively dissecting the plane's Combat Intelligence. No doubt the same idea would occur to somebody in the CIA.

"Other than that," Rydia continued, "just keep sending me any relevant information you can get your hands on. I'll be in touch."

"Of course," Linneberg replied, standing up from his chair. With a final bow, he turned and briskly strode off, back through the house and out the front door.

Still seated, Rydia Cooley finished the last of her iced tea. Nearly-melted cubes of ice slid down her throat, their cool hardness somehow soothing to her. With the umbrella shielding her pale skin from the hot June sun, she watched as butterflies and bees flitted about her tiny garden.

_Vacation's over,_ she thought gravely, standing up.

_Time to get back to work._

---


	16. Epilogue

---

Epilogue

---

The next forty-eight hours passed by in a kind of blur for Jack Bukhar. Out of respect, he attended the funeral service for all the airmen and launch crew members who had been killed in the JAM attack. The number of white boxes dropped into the sea had been relatively few. Considering the odds they'd been up against, the fleet had gotten off lightly.

Within an hour of the JAM attack, a second carrier fleet had been dispatched from the Indian Ocean. As the battered Antarctic fleet had limped its way north, the Indians had encircled the _Hogosha_ and her wounded escorts. For the last two days, the fleet had made sure to keep at least eight fighters on patrol at any given time, all ships reporting their status to Peacekeeping Command every fifteen minutes. If, for any reason, the combined fleet failed to report in, long-range fighters at a dozen different airbases were on alert to come to their rescue.

Aboard the _Hogosha_, people tended to step out of his way as Jack went by. Rumor had gotten around that a shaggy American civilian had been giving the Admiral orders during the attack, and that those orders had helped give the fleet a fighting chance. His pride in tatters, Fujikawa had retreated to his quarters, leaving Jack and Rei to their own devices.

And if the sailors treated Jack with awe, the reverence they had for Rei and _Yukikaze_ bordered on outright worship.

Now, as Jack entered the maintenance bay, he noticed a small, huddled group of techs whispering off to one side, its members occasionally glancing at the sleek blue-and-gray fighter jet, then whispering to one another in hushed tones.

Jack also noticed a wheeled yellow robot sitting beneath the fighter jet's wing, a screwdriver attachment whirring as it worked on the plane's wing joint. Whenever Rei was unavailable, _Yukikaze_ seemed to prefer maintaining itself now, borrowing a robot or two whenever the machine shop wasn't busy. From what Jack could see, its repairs from the JAM attack were already complete, as were those on the other two fighters that had fought beside it and survived. Either the 'bot was putting on some finishing touches, or _Yukikaze_ was just tinkering with its systems, optimizing them for next time.

He also noticed some cans of blue, gray and white paint lying nearby. _Guess it doesn't like having those gray, empty patches on its skin any more than Rei likes seeing them there._

Walking up beside _Yukikaze_, Jack could see Rei sitting in its cockpit, eyes closed, maybe even napping_. I wonder what he's dreaming about,_ Jack thought, noting the blissful smile on his friend's lips. "Hey, Rei? ATC says our ride is almost here."

The lanky fighter pilot's eyes opened slowly. "Just a minute, Jack," he said, sitting up and stretching. So he had been sleeping in the pilot's seat. _What a surprise …._

As Rei climbed down, Jack noticed that he had changed back into his flight suit. Leaning down, Rei grabbed the gray duffel bag with his civilian clothes and helmet. "Now, listen, Rei, don't get your hopes up. Remember what the Admiral said: Command isn't accepting the time-warp theory. They think you're a security risk. They won't let you fly again."

"Jack, relax. I'm not getting my hopes up. Besides, whether or not they let me back in the air again, I know _Yukikaze_ will be all right. As long as the JAM still pose a threat, they need her as-is. They can't erase her core directives without erasing all her intelligence on anti-JAM warfare."

"You sound almost glad that the JAM are here."

Rei cocked an eyebrow at him. "I'm not happy that _they_'re here. I'm just glad these ADF people have a good reason not to harm _Yukikaze_."

"Even if it'll be somebody else in her cockpit?"

Rei shrugged. "Like I've said, I could fly with _Yukikaze_ forever if they'd let me. But if not … well, at least she'll still be in my dreams."

Jack sighed. _He's in a better mood than he was two days ago. At least one good thing has come out of this mess._

As they stepped out onto the flight deck, Jack spotted three specks in the sky, rapidly growing as they descended toward the carrier. Two sleek escort fighters flew beside a larger military transport. Unlike the Osprey that was supposed to have come for them two nights ago – and which might well have been shot down by the JAM – this aircraft was a newer design, sporting four rotating turbofan engines. Jack noticed the racks of air-to-air missiles tucked under its forward wings; this VTOL had come prepared in case of trouble. As the transport made its approach, its escorts broke off, joining the fleet's own fighters on patrol duty. From what Jack had heard, their flight plan included a midair refueling for them, as well as for their transport.

The moment the plane settled, its cargo-bay door slid open. A helmeted airman glanced out, taking in the pair of former FAF pilots, then stepped aside.

A moment later, to Jack's astonishment, his own stepdaughter leaped onto the flight deck and ran toward him, an enormous smile on her face. "Jack! You're really all right!"

Jack returned her hug almost automatically, his mind reeling from the shock of seeing her here. As he stood there, holding Sarah, Lynn stepped down from the VTOL, her own warm smile helping Jack to get his emotional legs back under him.

"B-but … Lynn! What are you doing out here? On a military ship? With Sarah? Don't tell me you pulled your unstoppable-researcher routine and found us?"

"Actually," Lynn replied, "it was this fellow who asked us to come along."

A tall man in a crisp blue uniform stepped down from the transport. "I thought you might want your family present, Major Bukhar. I have some important things to discuss with all of you – including your friend, Lieutenant Fukai."

"Major?" Jack said, cocking an eyebrow. "I left the military a while ago. Nobody's called me that in years. And in case you haven't heard, Rei's received an honorable discharge. You've got nothing to charge him with."

"Yes, I know all about that. In fact, it's the reason I'm here."

Jack felt a hand on his shoulder. "It's all right," Rei said, his voice calm as a cool breeze. "I'm guessing this isn't about me being a security risk, then?"

The man removed his cap, revealing close-cropped black hair. "Just the opposite, in fact. Your heroics – not to mention your excellent piloting abilities – have helped win over some of the skeptics at Command. One, in particular, has been expressing an interest in you."

Rei couldn't resist a smile. _He knew this would happen,_ Jack realized. _But how…?_

"What sort of an interest, exactly?" the pilot asked casually.

The officer gave him a wry grin.

"As a matter of fact, she'd like to offer you a job."

Rei nodded, clearly unsurprised. "I'll take it on one condition."

The officer raised an eyebrow, just slightly. "And what condition might that be?"

As though on cue, a loud hydraulic whir sounded from behind the pilots. As one, the assembled airmen and civilians turned to watch as a sleek, blue-and-gray airplane ascended on the _Hogosha_'s elevator platform. Looking at it from the side, Jack realized that its fresh paint was already dry; there were no patches or blemishes on its composite skin. In fact, to Jack's eyes, it looked as though it had just rolled off its original assembly line, five years and God knew how many light-centuries ago. He couldn't help but notice that its original unit insignia were still missing.

With one notable exception, of course.

As the platform rose and locked flush with the flight deck, he heard its engines cycle up. Taxiing slowly ahead, the fighter turned to face them, its forward-swept wings folding down, testing its control surfaces.

The white, flowing kanji script on its nose must have been painted by a robot. In fact, it must have been painted in the few minutes since Jack and Rei had left the maintenance bay. Somehow, though, it still retained the smooth, calligraphic look of the design that Jack himself had first painted, and which Rei had later recreated on this plane's original nose cone.

_It _knew_. Somehow, it knew what was happening up here. But how? Did it hack the deck cameras? External audio pickups? Or … just how closely is Rei connected to it, now?_

Lynn put a hand to her mouth, eyes wide with shock. "Oh my word! It's really…"

Sarah stared, wide-eyed, at the fantastic fighter jet rolling toward them. "Mom, is that …?"

Rei smiled warmly at his steel-and-composite partner, then turned back to the openmouthed ADF officer.

"The condition," he said simply, "is that _Yukikaze_ comes with me."

---

**Author's Note:**

Whew! Finally, it's finished!

This has been the most fun and fulfilling writing project I've ever had the opportunity of working on. Part of the fun came from researching modern fighters, military tech and tactics. Wikipedia was a huge help, of course, as was freedict-dot-com. Alas, though I love the art and style of anime, I can't speak or understand Japanese myself.

Thank you, once again, to Rakuengaki, Shoootme and Schumie. Your editorial help and encouragement will not be forgotten. I just hope you like the direction I ended up taking this story.

Of course, everyone else is invited to read, review and comment on this story, too - the more the merrier!

If I have any spare time this spring and summer, I just might start working on a sequel to Homecoming. _Yukikaze_ is a short, five-episode anime series, but it's loaded with beautiful visuals, very human characters, and a cohesive plot. In my humble opinion, the series really deserves more attention.

Speaking of which, watch out for the new _Yukikaze_ forum, coming as soon as it shows up in the Anime forum section!

On that note, thank you all for reading _Yukikaze: Homecoming_.

And for all you writers out there, please, write more fics for this series!

If not, Rei will sic _Yukikaze_ on you, and then you'll be sorry!

---

MISSION CMPL

RTB


End file.
